Harry Potter and the Exploration of the Past
by shadylion
Summary: Harry in Azkaban fic. When released, he has no idea of what's happened in his life so far.. he has to piece his life back, using some skills he learnt before, and a little advice now and then from his past self... But there's the question of whom to trust
1. Release

**Chapter One**

**Release**

The cliffs of the islands of St. Kilda, in the Outer Hebrides islands rose sheer above the water. Hundreds and hundreds of puffins and smoky grey fulmars could be seen circling the volcanic cliffs. It was a clear day, the sun shining brightly in the sky. The people emerging from the uninhabited village of the Kildians however, had no eyes for the impressive landscape.

The tall red haired man was whispering to the heavily clothed woman by his side, clearly trying his best to exclude the third member of their group from the conversation. This person was an old man dressed in a grey cloak tattered and frayed from long use. He was trying to listen, and quite obviously so, ignoring the frequent scowls sent his way by the couple, both of whom appeared to be in their late teens. It was not often that he escorted such young people to Azkaban.

They got into a small boat in the jetty close to the village. As the old man started rowing slowly, they could see their destination in the far horizon, a tiny island fortress. Even from the distance it appeared dark and foreboding.

"Hermione, I ask you again, you don't need to go inside that place. I'll get him from the cell and we'll leave the place as soon as possible."

The wind swept the hood from the woman's face, as she shook her head, brown hair flying all over. "No, Ron. I need to go in. I need to at least see where he's been spending the last year. I cannot know what he's been through, but I need to atleast get a taste of it."

Ron shook his head at this point, appearing to give up. He looked around, frowning at the slow progress they were making. He dared not speed things up, for any signs of magical activity so near the prison would cause the appearance of a unit of Aurors. They did not need any trouble.

Hermione broke the silence. "How do you think he'll… react?" Ron glanced at her. The question had been worrying him too. "Oh, he'll probably jump up and knock my lights out", he replied, trying to sound light-hearted, but not quite succeeding. "I mean, he probably thinks we knew he was here all along, he must be mad at …" he broke off, realizing what he'd just said, as Hermione looked horrified. "No, no… I'm sure he's fine, I mean, I know his reaction with dementors and all… but I don't think he's…", he trailed off uncomfortably.

Silence reigned in the boat. As they drew closer to the island, the sun became less and less noticeable as dark clouds began to gather above their heads. The boatman noticed their reaction and remarked, "All the times I've ever come to this accursed place, and I've come plenty of times, mind you, I've never seen the sun shine on the island." He appeared to wait for a response, but didn't get any. Ron thought it sort of made sense, he always associated dementors with cold and darkness, he somehow couldn't imagine dementors surviving in the warm sun.

When they docked at the small jetty, Ron helped Hermione out of the rocking boat. As they left for the entrance, the boatman said, "Don't be too long." Ron almost laughed at the absurd comment. He noticed Hermione shiver despite her warm clothing, and put his arm around her. She smiled gratefully at him and moved closer, as they reached the entrance.

The Auror on duty nodded, and bade them to put aside all the magical objects they had on their person. Wands, of course came first, and Hermione added a charmed bracelet. They then stepped through some scanners and were then patted down, apparently to check for non-magical weapons. This complete, a waiting dementor led them through a narrow passage. Ron noticed that the Aurors did not come inside the prison itself.

As they moved deeper into the prison, the air grew colder and colder. Both of them were openly shivering now. The dementor stopped in front of a door and gestured them through. Ron paused, and muttered something to Hermione, who regained some of her colour and she replied irritably, "For heaven's sake Ron, it's my mistake as much as yours, we are going to face him together." Ron nodded, and pushed open the door.

The cell was small and dark. It took a while for them their eyes to get adjusted to the darkness. They could now make out the dampness as well, the stone walls appeared mouldy. But their attention was held by the figure sitting on the tiny bed staring fixedly at some point on the floor.

The figure looked up on hearing their entrance. Ron felt a thrill of foreboding when he met his eyes, green eyes glowing faintly in the dark, not unlike a cat. The person raised his hand and gestured them to remain where they were, and remain silent. Ron blinked at the response, but obeyed. He felt Hermione stiffen beside him, following his lead. Harry Potter continued his inspection of the floor.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. "What's going on?" she mouthed. Ron shrugged in reply. Had his experiences in Azkaban proved too much to bear? Had Harry gone insane? Somehow, looking at the boy, who was sitting, no _crouching, _perfectly still, Ron found it hard to believe. Something was going to happen.

And something _did_ happen. It was the most unexpected thing Ron thought could happen.

A mouse ran out on to the floor. Twitching it's nose cautiously, it made it's way to, now that Ron could see clearly, a tiny piece of bread. It relaxed a little when it could sense no danger, this was when Harry pounced. One smooth feline motion of his body, and he had the struggling rat in his hand. And he began to eat it with great gusto.

A wave of revulsion spread through Ron, but he forced himself to appear expressionless. Hermione had turned quickly away from the gory sight. Harry finished his meal quickly, and licked his hands until only a few smears of blood remained. Now he turned his attention to his two visitors.

Ron looked at Harry properly for the first time. He had grown taller, definitely more thinner and his hair fell about his shoulders. There was a strange feline grace about the way he rose to his feet and looked them both head to toe with his green eyes, which didn't seem to blink much. Ron glanced at Hermione and noticed her staring at Harry with a strange kind of fascination. "Harry…" she began.

Harry blinked a few times, as a look of utter confusion passed across his face. He frowned, and put his hand up to his head and appeared to think deeply. "Yes", he agreed absently, "My name is Harry Potter." He looked up at them, and continued, "And who are you?"

"_He's messing with us"_, Ron thought to himself, but as he met Harry's gaze, he realized that Harry was dead serious. Hermione looked like she was about to cry. Ron said quickly, "We are your friends, Harry. I'm Ron Weasley, and she's Hermione Granger. We've come to take you away from this place."

Harry appeared to think this over. "What exactly is 'this place' anyway? It's obviously a prison", he said, gesturing at the surroundings, "But what am I doing here?" He paused, and then said softly, "I don't remember…"

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, she tried valiantly to control her sobs. "It's called Azkaban, Harry," started Ron, "It's somewhere in northern England. As for why you're here… We don't know either. There's obviously been some sort of mistake. We'll clear it up after we get out of here, all right?"

Harry looked happier at these words. "Thanks. I'm glad I'm not a criminal or anything… I tried asking those people there", he waved his hand dismissively towards the door, "But they wouldn't talk. They're the prison guards I think?" he asked, looking at them both, noticing that Ron and Hermione were looking at him very oddly.

"Yes, they're called Dementors", Ron said carefully, looking at him for a reaction. Harry didn't know what Ron was expecting, so he continued, "Yeah, so honestly do they talk at all? All they seem to do is rattle away…" he trailed off, apparently thinking of the dementors' odd behaviour. Ron and Hermione exchanged a quick look. "All right, let's go, shall we? I want to see how it looks outside, it's kinda boring here…"

They walked outside, a Dementor was waiting to escort them outside. Harry noticed his companions shiver slightly when it drew a rattling breath, but decided not to say anything. He noticed that they were looking at him with equal curiosity.

At the entrance, the Auror returned the wands, and stared at Harry open mouthed. Harry didn't notice, he was busy staring at the sea outside. He thought to himself how strange this was, he knew this was how the sea looked like, but he couldn't remember seeing it ever before. The sun chose that moment to peek out of the clouds slightly. Harry smiled, the sun made him feel so _alive_. He glanced up at the spot of brightness in the otherwise dark sky.

At once, a flood of memories engulfed him. He just stood there, as he remembered a few glimpses of what he thought was his past life.

He was in a small room, where a fire burned brightly, a plate of sausages in front of him. A gigantic man was looking at him. A few other people were in the room, but he didn't notice. The giant opened his mouth and said clearly, "Yer a wizard, Harry."

The scene shifted. He was in a small shop; at first glance it looked like a shoe store, with rectangular boxes piled up in shelves. An old man with pale blue eyes, was giving him a wooden stick, a _wand_. Harry waved it and red and gold sparks appeared at the end. He heard someone whoop in joy in the background.

He was sitting on a stool, in front of a great crowd of people, no, _children_, wearing black robes. He noticed he was dressed similarly, and had something on his head. Suddenly a voiced shouted in his ear, "GRYFFINDOR", as a section of the crowd began cheering madly.

Finally, everything grew black… he was looking at a picture of an old man with a flowing white beard, and twinkling blue eyes… he was saying to himself in a whisper...

"_Do not trust Albus Dumbledore…"_


	2. Family

Disclaimer: Nay, not mine…

Finally, everything grew black… he was looking at a picture of an old man with a flowing white beard, and twinkling blue eyes… he was saying to himself in a whisper...

"_Do not trust Albus Dumbledore…"_

**Chapter Two**

**Family**

Ron and Hermione were standing outside Azkaban, Harry was gazing at the sky with a lost expression on his face. "Harry?" asked Hermione tentatively.

Harry shook his head. It took him a while to comprehend his recently gained memories. He was a _wizard_! He could do magic! But the last memory confused him more than a little. Who was this Albus Dumbledore? Why would he, Harry, at any point, look at a picture and tell _himself_ not to trust him? It was almost as if… yes, it had to be so… He had put the memory in his head at some time in the past… for him to view it later. It was almost as if… he had _expected_ to suffer a memory loss… and had left advice for his future self…

He shook his head again. It was confusing, he needed more time to think this through.

"Harry?" Hermione called again. He looked up with what he hoped to be a reassuring smile. He froze suddenly, looking at their wands, which the Auror had returned to them. "Where is my wand?" he asked sharply, before thinking.

Ron looked almost relieved, when Harry showed some semblance to his former self. "Well mate, when you were put in Azkaban, your wand must've been confiscated. So it's probably there in one of the Ministry vaults. 'Course, Dumbledore might've gotten it out by now."

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of Dumbledore's name. "Whose side were they on?" he wondered, contemplating how much he could trust them. They said they were his friends, but of course, he couldn't remember them, and there wasn't anyone to contradict them, yet. He decided to play his cards close to his chest for the time being.

Hermione, who was watching him closely, spoke. "What exactly do you remember, Harry?"

"Well," he hesitated, "I'm Harry Potter, I'm a wizard and I can do magic." He stopped, and grinned sheepishly, "That's all, I guess."

They reached the boat, when Harry asked, "Who is Dumbledore?"

Hermione started off enthusiastically, "He's the greatest wizard of this age, Harry. He's the Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…" She went on about his achievements, Harry listened, half amused. He wondered how biased her information was, since she was evidently on Dumbledore's side. He thought it probable that Ron was as well. He would have to be careful around the two of them now.

A thought struck him. The memory of him in a hall, and a voice yelling, "GRYFFINDOR", was probably at the Hogwarts school, which meant that he was a student there at some point of time.

"Tell me about Hogwarts," he interrupted Hermione, who was talking about the uses of dragon blood. _"Where'd that come from,"_ he wondered.

During their journey back to the mainland, Harry managed to pump enough information from both of them. He learnt that Hogwarts, a castle in Scotland, was a magical school where British witches and wizards went, and that the giant who told him he was a wizard, was in fact a half-giant named Hagrid and was the gamekeeper there. He heard about Diagon Alley, and Ollivander's wand shop. Ron spoke enthusiastically about some sport called Quidditch. He was taking Harry through the finer points of the game when they reached the shore, and Hermione paid the boatman.

"Guess it's safe to use magic now," muttered Ron. Hermione nodded, pulling out her wand. She deftly cast a couple of spells on Harry. One removed to months of filth he was covered with, leaving him feeling as though he had just taken a bath. The other transfigured his tattered grey robes into clean black ones.

"Now Harry," she said, pulling a quill out of her robes. "We're going to take you to a place in London, safest place for now…" she was holding out a piece of parchment, "Read it…"

He read, _"The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."_

"What's…" he began, but was cut off by Hermione, "We'll explain it soon. Listen, we're using a portkey, all right? Just touch this quill." Harry touched it, as Ron and Hermione spoke together, _"Activate."_

Harry felt a jerk in the region near his navel, as all of a sudden, the world blurred around him, the wind appeared to blow fiercely. He realized that he was moving very fast, and his fingers were glued to the quill. An instant later, feeling extremely windswept, he found himself in a dark hallway, but before he could look around, lost his balance and found himself on his backside.

"Some things never change," Ron said laughing, as he helped Harry up. Harry guessed he had always had a problem with Portkey travel, smiled as he allowed himself to be pulled up.

"_Harry!" _ He looked up to see a half-smiling, half-crying woman with flaming red hair running towards him. "Oh, Harry!" He let out an 'Uff' as he was pulled into a bone crunching hug. He heard Ron laughing in the background, as the woman released him.

He looked at her properly, as her smile faded. The hair was unmistakable. He smiled, "Hello, you must be Ron's mother."

Mrs. Weasley frowned. Hermione whispered a few words into her ear, Harry was looking at the surroundings unfavourably.

"Really! You could've warned me," she hissed at Hermione, once she'd finished. "Like you gave us a chance," Ron scoffed, "Where's everyone else?"

"In the kitchen," replied Mrs. Weasley, eyeing Harry nervously. Harry smiled at her once again, "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley," he said politely. "It's lovely to see you again, Harry dear," she said, as she shook his hand awkwardly.

"Place looks just like Azkaban," Harry muttered, as they followed her into the kitchen. "Dumbledore thought it was a good idea, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, frowning slightly, "He felt that a sudden change in surrounding might be a little… disturbing for you."

"Here's Dumbledore again," Harry thought to himself, mentally adding Mrs. Weasley to the list of people he should be careful with. Three out of three, not so good now.

They entered the kitchen, a few people were already seated at the table, looking at the doorway, expecting their entrance.

A chorus of 'Hey Harry's and 'All right, Harry's greeted him. Mrs. Weasley bustled forward to 'explain'.

"_Weasleys,"_ Harry thought to himself, as he looked at each one carefully. The one with the slightly tired face, next to who, Mrs. Weasley had gone to stand, must be the father," he thought. A man with long red hair in a ponytail and a fang in his ear, was Ron's brother, or possibly an uncle. Ditto for the stocky young man sitting next to him. A pair of identical red heads were next in line, they looked only a few years older than Ron. _"Large family"_

The last member was not red-headed. Harry looked at him with more interest. He was shorter than Harry, possibly only slightly taller than Hermione. He had a rather chubby face, and was nervously popping his fingers.

Soon, he found himself shaking hands with Arthur Weasley, Bill, Charlie (they turned out to be brothers after all) Fred and George (who appeared the most interesting of the lot) and finally Neville Longbottom. He received each introduction with a smile, but was at loss for what to do.

The rest of them seemed to be at a loss for words too, a very unpleasant silence was broken by the sound of voices. All heads turned to the door as a couple of girls walked in. One was a very pretty red head, Harry noticed. _"Just how many of them are there?"_ he wondered. She was followed by a girl with dirty blonde hair, and rather large eyes, which reminded Harry of a fish.

"Oh come on Luna, that's… _Harry_!" He found himself in a hug again. Harry felt a deep blush creeping up his face. It was nice, no doubt, being hugged by such an attractive girl… but still… Harry looked around when he was finally released, and saw the others trying to hide their chuckles. 'Erm,' was all he could say at the moment.

After the due explanations, Ginny went scarlet, and mumbled an apology. "T'sok," he mumbled back. When Mrs. Weasley announced that dinner was being served, he made sure to sit as far away from her as possible.

After dinner, which he had a lot of… his meals in Azkaban hadn't been very delicious, (Mrs. Weasley pressed him to have fifth helpings of everything), he sighed contentedly, and leaned back in his chair. Life was taking a turn for the better.

A flash of gold startled everyone on the table, and a letter fluttered down to Mrs. Weasley's lap. She read through it, and showed it to Hermione. Harry had the feeling it had something to do with him, but didn't ask.

"Harry dear, Dumbledore wants to see you tomorrow." Harry nodded, carefully keeping his face devoid of all expression. "The six of you will be going." From the nods, Harry understood that the other five were Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Ginny.

Hermione was writing very fast on a piece of parchment. "Fawkes," she called. There was another flash of gold, and the letter disappeared.

After the meal, just the six of them were left sitting at the table. The other Weasleys had muttered excuses and had left quickly. Harry had the feeling they had been his close friends in the past. Well, he was glad that Ginny was one of them, he smiled to himself, the hug _had_ been nice…

"So," he leaned back in his chair, and continued in a half-joking voice, "What can you tell me about myself?"

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Yeah, this chapter was a little slow and boring, I know… but I had to get the reunions out of the way. But I can promise that Harry meeting Dumbledore will be pretty exciting…

Many thanks to **The Unknown Weasley, gregthebunny2005 **and** logi** for reviewing… please continue!

shadylion


	3. Albus Dumbledore

Disclaimer: Well, if it were mine, I'd be rich… and right now I'd be surfing in Goa or somewhere, instead of typing this stupid disclaimer…

_Seating himself comfortably, Harry asked in a half-joking voice, "So… what can you tell me about myself?"_

**Chapter 3**

**Albus Dumbledore**

The others didn't take the joke very well. Ron and Neville smiled weakly, while the Hermione and Ginny squirmed uncomfortably. Luna appeared to find a particular knife on the table very interesting and didn't lift up her head.

Hermione responded first. "Um… I don't know if we are the right people to tell you, Harry."

"Then who is?"

"Well, we're meeting Professor Dumbledore tomorrow. He wanted to tell you everything himself."

So that letter was from Dumbledore. And it was likely that Hermione was writing a report of their trip to Azkaban. He was clearly in the middle of a bunch of his supporters.

"Why do you listen to him?" asked Harry asked, exasperated. He noticed with a trace of amusement that the others were temporarily stumped.

Luna looked up at this. "Because he's fighting You-Know-Who, of course," she said, as though surprised that Harry could miss something so obvious.

"_Luna," _hissed Hermione.

Harry was intrigued. "Who?" he asked interested.

"You-Know-Who," replied Luna innocently.

"No, I don't know who. Whom are you people fighting?"

A silence followed. Harry was getting irritated.

"Blimey, Harry," Ron gulped, "Well… the thing is…" he looked around for some help, when none came, he continued, "It's just that… nobody likes to say his name, and…"

"His name," Ginny interrupted, "is Voldemort."

There was complete silence in the room for two full seconds, before Hermione started berating Ginny. Harry wasn't listening, the name caused him to remember a couple more things…

_The half-giant, Hagrid, was explaining to him why he was so special in the wizarding world. His parents had been killed by Voldemort, and when he had tried to kill Harry, the curse had rebounded, leaving Voldemort a mere shadow of his former self. Harry had been left with a scar on his forehead…_

_The scene shifted. He was in a graveyard, and was tied to a tombstone. A short balding man was cradling his right arm, or rather, where his right arm should have been. He drew a silver dagger from his robes. Approaching him, he made a cut in the crook of Harry's right hand, and then brought out a phial to collect the blood. The man staggered back to a stone cauldron and poured the blood inside, chanting in a shaking voice, "Blood of an enemy… forcibly taken… you will resurrect your foe." A white mist rose from the cauldron, he could see the skeletally thin form of a man, with wide red eyes…_

Harry shuddered involuntarily. He opened his eyes, the others were looking at him with concern. He forced a smile on his face, and turned to Hermione, "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"Harry, I'm really really sorry," Hermione was almost pleading. "I know you wan to know very badly, but Dumbledore…"

"Can I have a mirror?" Harry didn't want to listen to Hermione anymore. Neville nodded and made to leave the room. "It's just that I've no idea how I look, y'know, and…" He looked around at them, and paused to look at Hermione. "It's all right," he said, trying to keep his voice level. I don't suppose another day will make much of a difference… why don't you tell me about this Voldemort fellow instead?"

Ron shuddered. Harry looked at him curiously, was the name sufficient to scare him? Hermione opened her mouth, but Ginny beat her to it. "He's the most evil wizard of this generation. He was defeated sixteen years ago, but he rose again, more powerful two years ago. He tortures Muggles for fun, and wants to rid the wizarding world of Muggle-borns and half-bloods."

Harry was confused. "Why? What's the point?"

Neville chose this moment to enter, carrying with him a full length mirror. He set it down, panting. Harry approached it eagerly. He saw he was thin… to the point of being called malnutritioned. He had intense green eyes, almond shaped. His jet-black hair was messy and long enough to reach his shoulders. He caught a glimpse of his scar, and parted his hair to have a better look. The curse scar, he saw, was lightning shaped and was in the middle of his forehead. So, he _had _defeated Voldemort when he was a year old. Dumbledore was fighting Voldemort, but he wasn't to trust Dumbledore either. What had Dumbledore done to him that made Harry lose trust in him so completely?

He stepped back and looked at his friends. They were clearly expecting him to ask more questions, about his scar perhaps. He felt very tired suddenly, _why was life so difficult?_

"I think I'll go to bed now."

Ron led him upstairs to a comfortable bedroom. Harry didn't even pause to take in his surroundings; he flopped down on the bed and immediately fell asleep.

Harry woke up the next day in a much better mood. He would meet Dumbledore today, and perhaps some mysteries would be cleared up.

He heard a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley told him breakfast was ready. "In a minute," he called back. He quickly brushed his teeth, and looked at himself carefully in the mirror. He decided he had to do something about his hair, a bandana perhaps? And he really had to get in shape, he was abysmally thin.

He made his way downstairs, to find nearly everyone seated at the table. He helped himself to the pile of toast and was buttering it when Ginny walked in.

"Good mooorning," she yawned, seating herself. Catching Harry's eye, she gave him a quick smile. Harry's stomach did a flip-over, and he managed to upset his glass of water and put his elbow in the butter dish at the same time.

"Sorry," he mumbled to Mrs. Weasley, his face red. Hope that no one had noticed his antics quickly vanished, as Ron, Fred and George howled with laughter. Hermione was shushing them, but she looked as though she was trying hard not to smile as well. Ginny was red with embarrassment, and she was shooting death glares at the twins.

_What was so funny?_ Even if they all thought he fancied her, it wasn't anything to _laugh_ so much about…

Eventually the laughter died down, not quickly enough for Harry. After some time, just the six of them and Mrs. Weasley were left, as the others wished them good day, and disappeared into thin air with a small _pop_.

"All right, time to leave," Mrs. Weasley bustled about, vanishing the contents of their plates with a wave of her wand.

"How're we getting there?" Ron's voice was muffled, as he was still chewing a rather large piece of toast he had put in his mouth earlier. "Portkey?"

"Ron, you know Dumbledore adjusted the wards around Hogwarts to prevent people from portkeying in," Hermione told him impatiently. "We're using the secure Floo, aren't we Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes dear," Mrs. Weasley smiled at Hermione, as Ron rolled his eyes. "Better get going now."

"Harry, you have to throw the Floo powder in the fire, step in, and…"

"_Step in?"_

"Yes, in the fire. And then you say _'Dumbledore's office'_. Make sure you say it clearly, you don't want to go anywhere else…" Ron guffawed loudly at this for some reason.

"Here, go after Ron. Show him Ron."

Ron flung a handful of powder in the fire, which turned green suddenly. He stepped right in, shouted "Dumbledore's office," and vanished.

"Keep your elbows tucked in…"

"Keep your eyes shut, you don't to get soot in…"

"Make sure you get out at the right grate, wait till you see Ron…"

Trying to remember everything, Harry threw the Floo powder in the fire, and cautiously stuck his foot in the fire. To his surprise, it felt like a warm breeze. More confident now, he stepped in, and shouted the words.

It was the most bizarre experience ever. He was spinning very fast, there was a roaring in his ears, his stomach churned and cold hands were slapping his face. Suddenly he found himself falling, but was caught by Ron before he fell to the floor, face first.

"Portkeys forever," he said shakily. Ron laughed, as he helped him up.

Harry looked around the room as the others arrived. It was a large circular room, a large number of silver instruments on tables were emitting puffs of smoke. The wall was full of portraits of people, all of whom appeared asleep. Harry was sure some of them were awake, he caught a few surreptitious glances at him.

A sudden weight landed on his left shoulder. Harry saw that it was a beautiful bird, with gold and crimson plumage. It trilled into his ear, a strange unearthly song. Harry felt his heart swell with hope and happiness. He patted the bird gently.

"I see you've met Fawkes, Harry," a deep voice came from behind him.

Harry whirled around. Standing at the entrance to the room was the man he had a picture of in his head. Old, white flowing beard, colourful robes, yes, this was Albus Dumbledore.

At that moment, Harry didn't know what to say. Dumbledore smiled at him, and Harry felt himself smile back, a genuine smile. This man had a certain air around him, he felt calm and safe. _Why wasn't he supposed to trust him? _

A prickling sensation arose at the back of his head, as he met Dumbledore's blue eyes. Instantly, he knew what it meant. Albus Dumbledore was trying to enter his mind, to read his thoughts and memories…

'_Perhaps because of things like this?'_ he wondered sarcastically.

**A/N**: Hurray, action starts soon, have planned out the next two chapters… it's going to get more… interesting. Have discovered that lines don't appear on and neither does the tilde character… Can anyone help out?

Thanks to **gregthebunny2005, Rachel Sedai, Ice-Phoenix-Tears **and** Dragonero** for reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter…

**Rachel**: Thanks for the longish review. Nope, haven't seen Paycheck. I have read the Bourne Identity though, I guess you could say it's an inspiration…

shadylion (I _need_ the tilde to signoff… haaalp!)


	4. Mind Magic

Disclaimer: If you don't know who owns Harry Potter, you must be living with the pygmies in Central Africa… In which case you probably don't have internet access, so this is really unnecessary…

_A prickling sensation arose at the back of his head, as he met Dumbledore's blue eyes. Instantly, he knew what it meant. Albus Dumbledore was trying to invade his mind, trying to read his thoughts and memories…_

**Chapter 4**

**Mind Magic**

Harry somehow knew what was going on. Dumbledore was trying to gain access to his thoughts and memories, and somehow, he knew how to stop him as well. He had been taught the art of mind control, by… _a snake?_

Harry's eyes widened in shock, as he recalled the lessons he had been given. _He could talk to snakes!_ He heard the snakes hiss in his head, telling him what he should be doing.

'_The best way to block memories from a Legilimens… is not by erecting a mental barrier… which takes up too much focus, and which happens to be the only way wizards seem to know.'_ The snake appeared to shake it's head at this. _'But instead, by moving those memories about in your mind rapidly… the Legilimens will be confused by the apparently chaotic memories in your head… unsorted, seemingly random memories… makes his job finding the required memory infinitely difficult…'_

Harry stared back at Dumbledore, meeting his eyes. _What memories should he hide?_ The flashes of his past, certainly. He decided there was no point trying to hide any others, as Dumbledore would undoubtedly get them from the others. He quickly found the memories he did not want Dumbledore to see, and grouped them together. He imagined his mind to be a kind of maze, and Dumbledore walking down the path, occasionally stopping to observe some memory or the other (The snake had taught him to picture his mind as a network of tunnels, but he had felt more comfortable using a maze). He moved the group of memories as far away from Dumbledore as possible, and began to place random memories, not in any chronological order, in Dumbledore's path.

He could almost sense Dumbledore's frustration, he was being forced to examine each memory individually, he could not guess what the memory contained, it wasn't related to the ones nearby. He felt Dumbledore pause for a while at a couple of memories. Had he left out some important memory by mistake? To his surprise, however, they turned out to be his recollections of catching rats in Azkaban, and being greeted by Ginny after coming to Grimmauld Place. What did Dumbledore find so interesting about these?

Harry heard the hissing in his ears again. _What now?_

'_One time when the mind is vulnerable to attack, is when one is using Legilimency… Focus too much on attacking another's mind… and your defenses become weak…' _

The snake proceeded to teach him a useful Legilimency technique to use in such situations, the idea being that when performing Legilimency, one's mental shields must have an opening, to permit entry of memories. It would be relatively easy to enter Dumbledore's mind now, since he would not need to break through his mental shields, plus the method was untraceable, Dumbledore would be too busy examining Harry's memories to notice his mind was being invaded…

Harry stared deep into Dumbledore's blue eyes, and immediately encountered a strong barrier. Not bothering to examine it more closely, he looked around for an opening, there must be one somewhere…

_Found it!_

He was inside Dumbledore's mind. What should he look for? The answer came to him unbidden, his wand… he needed his wand.

He felt Dumbledore begin to withdraw from his mind. _No, he needed more time!_

For the last time, the hissing began again. The snake, which he discovered to be a spitting cobra, was teaching him Hypnotism. Something the snake had found highly useful while hunting it's prey… _(A/N: Read A/N at the end of the chapter for elaboration)_

Hypnotism was another technique of Mind Magic. Harry learnt that Mind Magic was a huge field of magic by itself, though mostly unexplored…

'_Focus your magic into your eyes… Strive for domination in the battle of wills…'_

Harry felt his eyes grow brighter, as he stared deep into Dumbledore's eyes, willing him to retain contact. It seemed to work, and Harry didn't waste any more time. He delved into Dumbledore's mind, looking frantically. It didn't take him long to find what he wanted…

_Dumbledore entered his office with bowed shoulders, looking particularly old. He sighed, and removed a wand from his robes. He looked at it for a moment, apparently deciding what to do. With another sigh, he moved towards a portrait of a clever looking wizard with a sharp pointed black beard. He was sleeping._

"_Phineas," Dumbledore said gently. The wizard woke up. "I need to store something."_

_The wizard looked at him for a moment. "The boy's wand?" Dumbledore nodded._

"_Not turning it over to the Ministry, Dumbledore?" Phineas asked slyly, "Isn't it against the law to withhold a convict's wand?"_

_Dumbledore sighed again. "Harry has not yet been convicted, Phineas," he said quietly. "And we need the wand in the war…I need the help of the Ancient and Noble House of Black."_

_The portrait nodded and swung open, at what was apparently a password of some sort, to reveal a cavity in the wall. Dumbledore placed the wand inside, as the portrait swung back into place._

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Dumbledore frowned as he examined Harry's memories. He could find no memory before Harry had been sent to Azkaban. Perhaps he had been telling the truth…

But where had the memories gone? Even if Harry was suffering from amnesia, the memories should still be there, they should merely be inaccessible. But there was no trace of them, it was as though they had completely vanished… but that was impossible.

He was still pondering the mystery, as he prepared to leave his mind. Suddenly he found that Harry's green eyes were glowing faintly. He stared at them, losing all sense of time, he felt like he was drowning in a pool of green water… _No! _He fought to escape the spell he seemed to be under.

Suddenly, he was back. Harry's eyes were their normal green colour. But the smile on his face was gone; he was studying Dumbledore with calculating eyes, his face completely expressionless.

_What just happened?_

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Harry fought hard to keep a straight face, as Dumbledore strove to collect himself. He noticed the others were staring at the pair of them. Damn…

"Is everything okay, Professor?" Hermione asked, unsure of what just happened.

"Certainly, Miss Granger," replied Dumbledore amiably. "I was just remembering the old times." He turned to Harry. "It's wonderful to see you again, Harry."

Harry was surprised by the sincerity in the old man's voice. He merely nodded.

"Well, have a seat everyone." With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore conjured up six comfortable armchairs.

Harry looked around the walls, trying to find the portrait of Phineas. He found the wizard staring at them through half closed eyes. When he saw Harry look at him, he closed his eyes immediately, and started snoring slightly.

Fawkes flew off to his perch, as Harry sat down. Dumbledore was looking at him very seriously. "I imagine you have many questions, Harry. I'm sorry for making you wait, but I believed that I was the best person to tell you."

Dumbledore stopped, and looked at Harry, waiting.

Harry nodded slowly. "Why was I sent to Azkaban?"

Dumbledore looked slightly surprised that this was Harry's first question.

"You were sent to Azkaban because it was believed that you subjected a certain Draco Malfoy to two curses, the Imperius and the Cruciatus. You must know that these are called Unforgivables, and their use ensures a life sentence in Azkaban."

The names of the curses were vaguely familiar to Harry. Then he remembered…

Harry bowed his head in shame. "Why was I released?" When Dumbledore looked at him suspiciously, he added quickly "And what are those curses?"

Dumbledore paused, contemplating Harry. "For answering that question, I must tell you something of your past, Harry."

Harry nodded, as Dumbledore retold the story Hagrid had told him before, with a few more details. He asked a few questions about his parents and Voldemort. He learnt that his parents were Aurors, and were in the forefront of the battle with Voldemort, and had had some narrow escapes. He learnt that he had survived the Killing curse because of his mother's sacrifice, which left protection in his blood. Voldemort had laid low for thirteen years, and that he returned to his body after performing a dark ritual. Dumbledore told Harry about his unwilling participation in the ritual, which effectively nullified the blood protection given to him by his mother.

Harry felt tears in his eyes, upon knowing how much his parents had loved him, and protected him. But… there was something _wrong_ about the story. He contemplated this for a while, and it finally struck him.

"Voldemort _came_ to my parents' house himself?" he asked. Dumbledore nodded, knowing where this was going.

"Why did he want them dead so badly?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry for a long moment, evidently thinking what to say.

"Your parents were in the forefront of the battle, Harry. They were a powerful witch and wizard. Voldemort often attacked the families of those who opposed him."

Harry had a strong feeling Dumbledore was hiding something, but something else struck him.

"Why wasn't their house protected? Where were the rest of you when this happened?"

Dumbledore's shoulders sagged at this point, the bright twinkle in his eyes was gone.

"Their house was protected, Harry. However, we all made a mistake. One for which I shall never forgive myself…" Dumbledore seemed overcome with emotion. "We trusted someone… someone we should never have. One of your parents' best friends, he was a Death Eater…" Dumbledore explained about the Fidelius charm, and how Pettigrew betrayed his parents. He spoke about Harry's godfather, a man named Sirius Black, who was incarcerated in Azkaban for twelve years, everyone had thought he was the traitor. Sirius had escaped from Azkaban, to protect Harry from Pettigrew.

Harry's heart went out to this man, a true friend of his parents, who had suffered so much. "I would like to meet him," he said quietly.

The silence that greeted him, followed by a sob from Hermione made him look up quickly. He met Dumbledore's eyes and said blandly "He's dead too, isn't he?"

Dumbledore bowed his head. "Sirius was killed in battle a year ago," he said quietly.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to absorb everything he had heard. There was complete silence in the office till he opened his eyes again.

"Why was I released from Azkaban?"

Dumbledore explained to him what the curses did, and then added "Mr. Malfoy was captured along with five other Death Eaters, a few days ago. They had attacked a Muggle village. Under a law passed recently, use of the Unforgivables on Death Eaters is legal."

"But I _had_ used the curses on him?" Harry hoped and prayed that this wasn't true, Death Eater or not, the Cruciatus curse just as painful.

"Under Veritaserum, Mr. Malfoy confessed that he had lied about the Cruciatus curse. However, I'm afraid it seems you _had_ cast the Imperius curse on him. This happened last Halloween."

Last Halloween… and today was the first of July. He had been in prison for almost eight months…

Harry glanced at the others. Neville was white, Ginny looked murderous, and a glance at Ron's open mouth confirmed that his friends had known nothing of all this.

"Why was this fact not revealed at the trial? Why wasn't I asked for my side of the story?"

"It was a closed trial, Harry. Because of your rather special status, it was decided that the wizarding public should not know of your trial. You are regarded as something of a hero, Harry. It would have resulted in lowering the morale of the people drastically, if it was known that you were on trial for using Unforgivables."

Harry was shocked, to say the least. A wave of fury passed over him. _How dare they?_

The next question came in a whisper _"Who knew?"_

Dumbledore seemed unfazed. "It seems that our ex-Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, took it upon himself to head the jury. Mr. Malfoy was called as witness, from his testimony, we hear that there were two others. Nothing of the trial reached the ears of the public. Your friends certainly didn't know about it."

Harry simply stared at Dumbledore. _Three_ people had sentenced him to prison? What kind of justice was this? He had no doubt his friends knew anything about the trial, the story Dumbledore was telling him seemed to be news to them as well.

But wait… How much could he trust Dumbledore to tell him the truth? He needed confirmation from another source…

"I must speak to this man, Fudge," he said firmly.

"Cornelius Fudge was assassinated by Death Eaters two months ago," said Dumbledore quietly. "The other two were killed as well, in the same raid."

Harry let out a short bark of laughter. So, he had to trust Dumbledore to tell him the truth, eh? But oddly enough, he felt that the old man had been honest with him so far…

"So there's no one I can blame now…" he muttered, more to himself than the others. "My friends didn't know…" he stopped there, and looked sharply at Dumbledore.

"You knew?"

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**A/N: **The spitting cobra is a snake found in Africa, which kills by spitting poison at the target's eyes, blinding and usually killing it. It can aim accurately, and can spit as far as fifty feet or so… So, Hypnotism would come in useful for them…

Well, this took longer than expected to put up… There was a college fest this weekend which I had to attend…

Many thanks to **logi, Rachel Sedai, The Unknown Weasley, lonlyheart **and **HarrySlytherinson** for taking time out to review… glad you all seemed to like it!

**Rachel Sedai:** Sure… guess away! Anyway, you're kinda right, but not really… umm, fine, guess you're kind of close… Guess that didn't help much! Here's a hint… In this fic, people are going to be as 'in character' as I can make them… including Dumbledore (The Dork!)

**The Unknown Weasley:** Yeah, guess you're right, it is moving sort of fast isn't it? Well, it's because I don't want to make it drag… I read a few on that got boring cos of too much detail and dialogue… still, guess you're right, maybe I should slow things down a bit…

Hope you all liked the chapter! Review if you can…

shadylion


	5. More Explanations

Disclaimer: No, you're right, it isn't mine and I'm not making any money out of it. (As though I could!)

"_Cornelius Fudge was assassinated by Death Eaters two months ago," said Dumbledore quietly. "The other two were killed as well, in the same raid."_

_Harry let out a short bark of laughter. So, he had to trust Dumbledore to tell him the truth, eh? But oddly enough, he felt that the old man had been honest with him so far…_

"_So there's no one I can blame now…" he muttered, more to himself than the others. "My friends didn't know…" he stopped there, and looked sharply at Dumbledore._

"_You knew?"_

**Chapter 5**

**More Explanations**

It wasn't a question… more like an accusation.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry felt like kicking himself. Of course Dumbledore knew… he wouldn't have hidden Harry's wand behind the portrait otherwise. Dumbledore would get more suspicious, Harry had let his emotions get the better of him. But after a moment, he forgot all about it, as something very interesting happened…

He could sense Dumbledore's heart beat faster, his pulse quickened… he could almost _smell _the tiny beads of sweat that formed on Dumbledore's forehead…

"Harry, how _could_ you think that!" _Well, Hermione seemed slightly agitated by his accusation…_

"Yeah, if he'd known, we'd all have come and busted you out of there!" _Ron… taking her side as usual…_

"Harry, don't you realize Professor Dumbledore's on our side?" _Neville… his quiet loyalty to Dumbledore showing through…_

_Nothing from Luna or Ginny. Well, at least that was something…_

Dumbledore held up his hand for silence. "I'm afraid I did not share Cornelius' confidences in this matter," he replied quietly.

There was an unmistakable ring of truth in his voice. Harry frowned for a moment, certainly Dumbledore had become nervous… and it hit him.

"You haven't answered my question, Professor."

Dumbledore sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "I assure you I had no idea you were in Azkaban, Harry," he said, stroking Fawkes, not meeting Harry's eyes.

_Lie. _

Harry smiled, satisfied.

"Professor, I have a question," Hermione sounded as though they were in class.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Wasn't there a court scribe at the trial?"

Harry thought he saw a flash of annoyance in Dumbledore's eyes, but it was gone so quickly that he wasn't sure.

"What's…" he began.

"A court scribe takes notes of the proceedings in a trial, Harry. He writes down the questions asked, and the answers given by the witnesses."

"And was there one in my trial?"

"I'm not sure," Dumbledore frowned. "You must understand that the only information we have on the trial is from Mr. Malfoy's evidence. He did not see a scribe, but of course there might have been one hidden from view. By law, a scribe must be present at all trials…"

Harry smiled bitterly. "Yeah, but my trial wasn't exactly legal was it?"

Dumbledore ignored the interruption. "Nevertheless, I have been making enquiries. Of course, you shall know if I find anything."

_Yeah, right._

"Any other questions, Harry?"

Harry thought for a bit. Well, the obvious question was there of course… but should he ask Dumbledore? Well… why not?

"Why can't I remember anything before the time I went to Azkaban?"

A sudden catching of breath behind him told him that the others were as interested as he was. Dumbledore examined him through his half-moon glasses.

"I do not know for certain. But if I were to venture a guess, I should think that you did it yourself."

There was complete silence in the circular office. Well, at least from the people, the silver instruments were still whirring. The next moment a confused babble arose.

"What?"

"Ridiculous."

"Professor, how is that possible?" Hermione was of course, more interested in knowing _how_ exactly he had emptied his mind of all memories…

Dumbledore was still looking at Harry, who hadn't said anything. The very idea was shocking and sounded impossible… but on second thought, it just _could_ be true. The occasional flashes of his past, yes, he thought it made sense now, if he had planned all of it himself, but it left the question of…

"Why would I do such a thing?"

Dumbledore looked surprised at his reaction (or lack of it), but answered nonetheless.

"That, I believe, would be because of the Dementors."

Harry remembered how Ron and Hermione seemed disturbed when he had spoken casually about the Dementors, he remembered how they had shivered when one drew its rattling breath.

"What are those… things?"

"Dementors are one of the worst Dark creatures that infest the earth, Harry. They survive by sucking out happy thoughts from humans. Normally when near a Dementor, one experiences his or her worst memories…" Dumbledore broke off, and smiled at Harry. "As usual, you seem to be the exception, Harry. Dementors seem to have no effect on you whatsoever."

Harry frowned, "But how does…" and then he understood.

"You mean… since I didn't have any memories when I was in Azkaban, the Dementors couldn't make me relive any of my worst memories… and I remained unaffected?"

"Well done, Harry," Dumbledore smiled. "An extreme step, but it undoubtedly prevented you from going insane. You were always affected… rather badly, in their presence."

"But… that's very powerful magic," Hermione exclaimed. "How did you do that, _without_ a wand I might add."

Harry grinned at her. "Would you believe me if I tell you that I don't remember?"

The joke had the desired effect, most of them laughed, albeit uncomfortably.

Hermione was deep in thought. "But still, it doesn't make sense." Harry wondered if she even heard what he had said. "I mean, it's not like you had no memories at all, did you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Harry," she began patiently, as though explaining to a four year old, that although surprising, two plus two did indeed make four. "You remember your stay in Azkaban, don't you? You still had _some_ memories while you were in prison, your daily activities, umm… eating food and all that. The Dementors should still have had _some_ effect on you…"

Ron laughed at her, "What, are you complaining?"

Hermione gave him a 'that's not funny, Ron' look. _She did make sense._

"What do you think, Professor?"

Dumbledore seemed to be thinking deeply as well. "Miss Granger," he said finally. "I don't know how Harry managed to erase his own memories, without a wand. It would seem that there was some magic at work that we don't fully understand."

Harry glanced at Dumbledore. _He was hiding something. Again._

"While we're on the subject… I need my wand, Professor," he said, barely hiding his irritation.

"Ah yes, of course." Dumbledore reached down and tapped one of the drawers in his desk with his wand. The drawer slid open noiselessly. "This came by owl post today," he said, handing Harry a wand and an envelope.

Harry did not even bother looking at the wand, but he put the letter in his robes. "Professor Dumbledore," he spoke softly. "I asked for _my_ wand. You know the one, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches."

Dumbledore settled back in his chair, the twinkle in his eyes gone. "May I ask how you know that, Harry?"

_Damn, damn, damn… He had been careless again._

"I… I remember some things occasionally."

Dumbledore regarded him expressionlessly. "My wand first, Professor. Where is it?" Harry suddenly felt afraid, finding his wand was _very_ important, he felt… incomplete without it.

"I sense that you are not being completely honest with me, Harry."

Harry felt a jolt of anger, he was tired of this verbal battle, he was tired of sifting truth and lies from Dumbledore's words. He just wanted his wand… and somehow he knew what to do.

"_Lumos Solaria"_ he called, his palm in the air. He let his eyes wander around the office before coming to rest at the portrait of Phineas Nigellas. The wizard was wide awake now, it appeared as though there was a glowing golden halo around his head.

Harry snatched up the wand Dumbledore had given him, and strode over to where the portrait was.

_Now what? He could not say the password, Dumbledore needn't know his Legilimency powers yet._

Harry tugged a little at the frame of the portrait, and wasn't surprised when it didn't open.

"Now, professor, would you be kind enough to tell me the password, or should I blast this open?" Harry pointed his wand at the portrait's forehead, and smiled evilly at him. Phineas' eyes grew wide with fear, and he scuttled over to the adjacent painting, where a large witch, who had been sleeping like a log the moment before, jumped up to make place for him.

Harry glanced back at Dumbledore, whose face was expressionless. He turned back to the empty portrait and waved his wand. _"Reduc…"_

"Stop," called out Dumbledore. Harry lowered his wand, not turning back to Dumbledore. "Phineas, please go back to your painting. I need the help of the Ancient and Noble House of Black."

Phineas glared at Harry before walking back reluctantly, muttering something that sounded like _"Really, youngsters these days…"_

Harry did not pay attention. As the portrait swung open, he saw his wand, a dazzling light coming from its tip. He threw aside the wand in his hand, which went clattering on to the floor.

"_Accio,"_ he called, holding out his hand. The wand came soaring to him. When he grasped it firmly, a sense of power flowed through him. Red and gold sparks shot out from the end of his wand, which felt warm and comfortable in his hand. He felt like he had regained a part of himself…

"_Nox," _he muttered, extinguishing the blinding light.

He turned back to the rest of them, Hermione's mouth was open. "You just performed wandless magic," she said softly.

"So?" he shrugged. "Bet lots of people can do it."

"Miss Granger is correct, Harry. It _is_ exceedingly rare. You seem to share a special bond with your wand…"

"Which you tried to keep away from me," said Harry, coldly. "Care to explain why, Professor?"

Dumbledore held his head in his hands, and gazed down at his desk. Harry felt an irrational sense of… _pity_ for the old man, but he forced himself to keep a cold look on his face.

"Miss Granger, and the rest of you, please Floo back to Grimmauld Place. I need to talk to Harry alone."

Harry opened his mouth to object, but when Dumbledore looked at him pleadingly, the words got stuck in his throat.

The others followed Hermione to the fire, Ron and Ginny seemed reluctant, but left when Harry smiled and nodded at them reassuringly. Luna was, of course, thinking about matters of greater importance…

"Yes, Professor?" Harry did not meet Dumbledore's eyes. _Damn, he was too soft._

"First of all, Harry, I must apologize for attempting to hide your wand from you."

"Yes, you should be sorry."

Dumbledore removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. _'A sign of stress' _thought Harry.

"Your wand is tainted," he said abruptly. "The use of Unforgivables has corrupted the Phoenix core. It is no longer a Light wand."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I can see why that would disturb you, Professor."

"Harry, please understand. I do not want you to be another Tom Riddle."

"Who's that?"

"Lord Voldemort's original name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Voldemort killed my parents," Harry spoke carefully, trying to hide his anger. "And as far as I can make out, he's pretty much ruined my life so far. What makes you think I'm going to be like him?"

"I've seen it more times than I would care to recount, Harry. It only takes a few steps down the Dark path to completely change a person's beliefs and sense of morals."

Harry couldn't control himself anymore. He placed both his hands on the desk and stared at Dumbledore, eye to eye.

"_Is that why you're afraid of me, Professor?"_ he hissed, his voice dangerously soft.

Dumbledore gazed back at him without blinking. "Partly, yes, that's true," he admitted. Harry was surprised that Dumbledore was so forthcoming.

"But mostly, I'm afraid _for_ you."

Harry stared at him for a moment. Dumbledore had meant every word of what he said. Slowly his mouth twitched, and before Dumbledore's astonished eyes, he burst out laughing. Dumbledore was staring at him in amazement, clearly, whatever reaction he had been expecting from Harry, this wasn't it. It only made Harry laugh harder.

"I have to go," Harry said finally, wiping tears from his eyes, moving towards the fire.

Dumbledore waited until Harry had thrown the Floo powder in before asking "Harry, are you aware that you are highly proficient at a branch of magic called Hypnotism?"

Harry turned back to him with a smile. "Very much so, Professor." He turned back to the fire answering the unasked question, "And no, I won't tell you…"

He turned to Dumbledore one last time. "We must all have our secrets after all." With a quick smile he was gone, leaving behind a very confused Headmaster contemplating the enigma that Harry Potter had become.

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**A/N:** Didn't anyone like the bit about Mind Magic and Hypnotism and all that last chapter? I put a lot of thought into it you know!

Thanks to **Rachel Sedai, Dragonero, HazelWolf1, Storyreader101 **and** lonlyheart** for reviewing. You guys (and girls) rock!

**Rachel Sedai:** Well, pretty much everything got revealed this chapter. The full extent of Dumbledore's involvement… wait and see. And congrats, you spelt prophecy right!

**HazelWolf1:** Nah, don't worry. I'm no good at writing romance stuff, and I'm not about to start now!

**Umm… a request that I've been putting off for a while. This is the first time I've written anything, and I'm not too confident about my writing abilities and all… Yeah, so I need some feedback on what you guys like and dislike about the plot, writing style, pace of the story… anything. I've enabled anonymous reviews if it'll help!**

Thanks in advance, hope all of you enjoyed the chapter!

shadylion


	6. The Penseive

**Disclaimer: **Not mine folks…

**Chapter 6**

**The Pensieve**

When Harry reappeared at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, he found the others waiting for him. This time, Neville saved him from landing face-first on the floor. As he straightened up, brushing soot off his robes, his eyes wandered over to where the clock was. They had been gone almost two hours.

"What happened back there, mate?" Ron called over, from where he was playing chess with Hermione. Ginny was on the floor, playing with a rather large cat. Luna was sitting on a couch near the fire, reading a magazine, where Neville joined her.

"Nothing much," Harry replied, sinking down on a comfortable armchair. The cat immediately jumped up onto his lap, he stroked it lazily.

"Is he yours?" he asked Ginny, while the cat purred in satisfaction.

"No, he's Hermione's. Name's Crookshanks," she looked curiously at him. "He's never taken to you much before…"

"Harry, what did Dumbledore say?" interrupted Hermione impatiently. She and Ron had walked over, abandoning the chess game, a couple of knights were waving their tiny lances in the air, cursing them.

"He told me that since I'd used Unforgivables, the wand was corrupted," he replied, leaning back in the chair, closing his eyes. It felt comfortable, sitting close to the fire, the warm weight of Crookshanks on his lap. It was quiet, and he felt that it would be nice to fall asleep in the armchair…

Harry jerked his eyes open, as he realized that he had caused the silence, by his statement. The others had moved closer, and Ginny was patting his arm.

"It's only the Imperius curse, Harry. I'm sure you had a good reason…" Harry stared at her. She apparently thought he felt guilty about that. With a flash of guilt, Harry realized that he hadn't given a second thought to it…

"Yeah, and it's only Malfoy after all…"

"_Ron!"_

"And it's not like you used the Cruciatus curse on him, Harry."

Hermione was chewing her lip nervously, she hadn't spoken so far. "What?" he asked her.

"It's… it's just that… they would have done the Prior Incantatem on your wand, Harry…"

_Prior Incantatem… Prior Incantatem… This sounded familiar…Ah, of course, the reverse spell effect._

"Yeah, so?" Ron asked, knitting his eye-brows together, which gave him an uncharacteristically serious look.

"Ron, how can you be so stupid?" Hermione snapped at him, her voice returning to normal. Ron merely pointed at the others, all of whom were looking at Hermione quizzically. Harry felt a knot building in his stomach, he could see where this was going…

"They wouldn't have believed Malfoy unless… the spell showed that Harry had performed the… curses."

A silence followed. _'She's right,' _thought Harry miserably. He glanced around at his friends, half expecting them to back away from him. As though she had divined his thoughts, Ginny took his hand in hers.

"Harry, we're still your friends. I… we don't care even if you… did all that. Nothing's going to change," she smiled at him.

The others quickly reaffirmed her words. Neville nodded "We've been through a lot of things together, Harry. We're not going to forget all that."

"Besides," Luna piped up, turning her large eyes upon Harry. "There's always the possibility that someone else used your wand…"

Harry did not think that was very likely, but he nodded along obediently with the rest. He felt a lump in his throat, and his heart was pounding, as he looked at his friends. They were absolutely serious, no doubt about that. He wondered what exactly they had 'been through'; as Neville put it, but thanked his stars that he had such great friends at his side.

Some of his feelings seemed to spread among the others. Hermione gave a great sniff, and turned away hastily. Ginny was holding him so hard that his hand was starting to become numb.

"So," Ron said, nervously eyeing Hermione, "How 'bout we teach you Exploding Snap, Harry?"

Harry nodded happily, as they headed upstairs.

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Exploding Snap was a nice game, Harry thought, if a trifle weird. He was sure, however that it wouldn't have been so weird if Ron hadn't insisted on using Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes All-Purpose Playing Cards. Harry learnt that the WWW was an enterprise owned by Fred and George Weasley. The cards frequently jumped from one player's hand to the other, and the explosions often shook the foundations of the house, but Ron insisted that these lent some unpredictability to the game, which would otherwise be boring. After they played for an hour or so, Mrs. Weasley appeared at the door to call them for lunch.

"How was your trip to Hogwarts, dear?" she asked Harry, hanging back to talk to him.

"Umm, I only saw Dumbledore's office, actually," Harry confessed. "But I did get my wand back though," he added brightly, drawing his wand.

"You mean he let you have your wand?" Hermione asked him, her brows furrowed. "But I thought you said…"

"Yes, yes," Harry said hurriedly, not wanting Mrs. Weasley to hear that he had performed the Unforgivable curses. "But it's my wand, isn't it? It's not like he has to _let_ me use _my_ wand."

Hermione was still looking at him worriedly. Harry was sure she felt that he should have used another wand, since Dumbledore had expressed his reservations, but he didn't feel like arguing with her. Breakfast seemed a long time ago, and Harry was eager to see what Mrs. Weasley had cooked up for lunch.

"Oh, and there are a few people here to see you…"

Harry paused at the foot of the stairs, and looked back at Mrs. Weasley. "They Flooed here a few minutes ago, they're waiting for you in the dining room." She was smiling as she said this. Were these people some more of his friends?

Harry made his way cautiously to the dining table and took a look at the newcomers. Sitting closest to him was a tall well-built black man, with a bald pate, and a single earring hanging from his left ear. He was seated comfortably, reading the newspaper. Somehow from his poise, Harry felt that very little disturbed the man, he would remain just as calm under any circumstances.

Seated across the table was a young woman with a pale, heart shaped face and short hair of a particularly virulent green colour. She was laughing at something a third man had said, they were facing each other. This man had sandy hair, which had a lot of grey in it, and looked tired, with bags under his eyes. Somehow, Harry had the impression that the man was much younger than he looked.

The fourth man was facing the fire. He had long grizzled grey hair, Harry couldn't make out his features, he was facing away from Harry. None of them had noticed his approach yet, he was about to clear his throat when the man said "Hello there, Potter."

Harry was surprised, how did he notice? There wasn't any mirror in front of him or anything. However, the man didn't turn around, so Harry looked around at the others.

The sandy haired man was smiling at him, a smile that made him look ten years younger. Harry smiled back at him, he felt strangely comforted by his presence. The woman had gotten up and had made her way to Harry, and had enveloped him in a tight hug.

Somehow, Harry didn't feel so embarrassed, perhaps he'd got plenty of practice at being hugged by strange women. He was released, and was scrutinized from head to toe.

"You've grown taller," she said finally, smiling at him (she was just about as tall as him). "And definitely thinner," she rolled her eyes, "But that's to be expected I suppose."

Harry smiled back at her relieved. At least she hadn't burst into tears like Mrs. Weasley. He noticed that the bald black man had put away his paper and was looking at him. "All right, Potter?" he asked in a deep voice. Harry nodded back at him and turned his attention to the man with the grizzled hair, and opened his mouth in shock. One of the man's eyes was dark and beady, and the other was much bigger and an electric blue in colour. It was also moving around inside the eye socket. Somehow, Harry got the idea that it was because of this eye that he was able to see behind him.

"Well, come on in Weasley," he growled suddenly. Ron opened the dining room door and walked in sheepishly, followed by the others. Apparently, the eye could see through solid objects as well…

"Well, I suppose we'd better introduce ourselves," the sandy haired man said, approaching Harry. "I'm Remus Lupin," he said, shaking his hand. So this was Remus Lupin, werewolf and another friend of his father, whose unexpected transformation resulted in Pettigrew's escape. He smiled at Lupin and said "Dumbledore told me about you."

Lupin nodded and indicated the green-haired woman next to him. "This is Nymphadora…" he broke off as the woman punched him rather hard on the arm. "Just Tonks will do, Harry," she told him, glaring at Lupin, who was rubbing his arm with a wry smile on his face.

The bald black man introduced himself as Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the grey-haired man turned out to be Alastor Moody.

"So it is true, isn't it?" Lupin asked him, as they sat down for lunch. "Any idea how it happened?" Harry shook his head. It was the truth, he didn't know _how_ he had erased his own memory. "Shame," Lupin continued, shaking his head, "You were a pretty good dueller, Harry. Now you'll have to relearn all the spells."

"That's not exactly true," Hermione broke in, realization dawning on her face. "You performed a few spells in Dumbledore's office, how'd you know them?"

There was complete silence at the table, as they regarded Harry. Moody was observing Harry intently, both eyes fixed on his face. "Which spells did you do, Potter?" he asked him in his gravelly voice.

Harry thought for a moment. How had he known which spells to use? "I don't know," he replied finally, turning to Hermione. "It just… came to me at that time." He turned to Moody, and told him "Lumos, Nox and the Summoning Spell."

"Not to mention Reducto," said Ron, guffawing loudly. Harry mentally groaned, and the adults turned to him, all wondering the same thing, _'What had he blasted in Dumbledore's office?'_

"I didn't actually _use_ the spell," he said hurriedly. Again true, he was stopped before he could blast the painting…

They ate in silence for a while. Then Hermione and Lupin started discussing the seventh year N.E.W.T syllabus. Ron and Tonks were having an argument about Quidditch, apparently the Kenmare Kestrels had beaten the Chudley Cannons, Ron was insisting that the referee was biased, while Tonks was hotly denying it. Suddenly in the heat of the argument, Tonks' hair started growing longer, till it reached her waist, and changed in colour to a deep red.

"How'd you do that?" Harry asked, amazed. She laughed, "I'm a Metamorphmagus, Harry. I can change my appearance at will." She made her nose the size of Dumbledore's to prove her point.

"Wow…" Harry trailed off, as Tonks changed her hair to jet-black, her eyes to green, and shortened her nose, till Harry felt that he was looking at a reflection of himself. He shook his head, _this was weird._ Tonks grinned impishly at him, and changed her appearance to normal. She went back to her argument with Ron.

Harry looked around to see what the others were doing. Neville and Luna were talking quietly together, as were Shacklebolt and Moody. Ginny was eating quietly, occasionally exchanging a word with her mother. She caught Harry's eye and gave him a small smile. Thankfully, he didn't upset anything this time.

As they were nearing the end of the meal, (Mrs. Weasley had made treacle tart for dessert, and Harry was eating his third helping) the fire flowed emerald green for a moment, and a tall witch wearing an emerald green cloak stepped out.

"Minerva," Mrs. Weasley got up hurriedly, "We just finished lunch…"

"That's all right," the witch said, cleaning her robes with a wave of her wand, "I just have a message from Dumbledore." She caught his eye, and gave him a small smile, beckoned to Hermione, who got up hurriedly and followed her to the hallway.

"Who's that?" he muttered to Lupin. "That's Minerva McGonagall, Professor McGonagall to you. She teaches Transfiguration at Hogwarts."

"Oh." She seemed strict, Harry thought to himself. He finished his lunch, bade Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley and Moody goodbye, and went upstairs followed by Ron. "What do you think she wanted with Hermione?" he asked him. Ron shrugged, "Something to do with you, obviously. We'll find out soon enough."

Sure enough, a few minutes later Hermione entered the room, followed by Neville, Luna and Ginny. She was carrying a package which appeared quite heavy, judging by her heavy breathing. Ron hurried forward to help, but she dropped it on the couch, and sat down next to it to catch her breath.

Ron opened the package. It was a stone vessel, with strange runes carved on its side. It was empty.

"What's this?" asked Ron, turning to Hermione, after examining the bowl. Harry was still looking at the bowl, which looked strangely familiar…

_He was standing at the feet of a great statue. He held a stone bowl in his hand, it looked the same as the one Hermione had brought upstairs, but this one was full of a strange silvery liquid. He covered it with a matching stone lid, and muttered a Sealing Charm. There was a small squelching sound, as the lid sealed itself._

_He turned to the side, where a snake was coiled. It was the same snake, the spitting cobra that had taught him Mind Magic. _

"_I may not be back for a while," he hissed to the snake. "Guard the Pensieve."_

_The snake nodded, and he walked away, through a long passageway with tall pillars at the side. He stepped out of the chamber and turned around. The stone doors were open, with one carved serpent on each door, which had glowing green eyes._

"_Close," he hissed, and the doors closed, the two serpents becoming entwined. He walked further down the dark tunnel. Halfway down, there was a cave-in, so he squeezed himself through a tiny opening at the side. After a while, he reached a point where he could see an opening above him. He levitated himself through, he looked upwards and he could see the light at the end of the slide growing larger and larger. He made it through, and gazed back at the opening, which was in between a row of sinks. He was in a bathroom._

"_Close," he hissed again, and a sink which was out of sight, came up and covered the opening._

"Harry… Harry," Ron tapped him smartly on the head. He looked up, he was back…

"You faded off there for a moment, mate," he told him, "You were saying," he asked Hermione. "This is a Pensieve," she told them. "Professor McGonagall says it can be used for storing memories. Dumbledore wants us to use it to show Harry our memories…"

"Cool," Ron said, turning the bowl, looking at it from different angles. "How do we use it?"

Hermione ignored him, and continued, turning to Harry. "Dumbledore also wants us to see how much you can remember of all the magic you learnt. He thinks you will need some extra coaching before we go back for our seventh year."

"I don't remember anything," said Harry honestly. "I don't even know what Transfiguration means, when Lupin told me." He looked at the others moodily, "I don't see why I should go to Hogwarts, anyway. I don't want to be near the old coot if I can help it."

"_Harry!"_ shrieked Hermione, looking scandalized. Ron sniggered, while Ginny had a smile on her face. Luna however, told him matter-of-factly "Dumbledore isn't a coot, Harry, he's a Light Elf."

"What?"

Hermione snorted, "There are no such things as Light Elves. The only elves around are house-elves." Luna didn't argue with Hermione, she merely looked at her interestedly as though she were a different species herself.

"Anyway," Hermione continued, turning to Harry. "I know you and Dumbledore have had differences in the past…" she broke off, biting her lip.

Harry perked up, this was interesting. "We have?"

"That's not the point," she continued hurriedly. "You have to learn magic, you'll be involved in the war, we all will be, so you must learn to fight. Besides, Hogwarts is the safest place around, except perhaps this house…"

"All right," Harry sighed, she was right as usual. "Bet I'll have to join the first years…"

A thought stuck him. _The Pensieve! His memories were there in the Pensieve!_ He turned to the others.

"D'you… know of any place that's… guarded by… snakes?"

Their reaction was unexpected. Ginny turned white as sheet, the rest of them had their mouths open. Neville recovered first, "How did… how did you know?"

"I don't know anything," Harry said quickly, thinking fast. "I… I had a dream last night…"

Ginny shuddered, he turned to her, concerned. _What had he said?_

"_The Chamber of Secrets,"_ she whispered.

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**A/N: **Hey all… this should have been uploaded a while ago, but what with power cuts, and the Revenge of the Sith…sighs… its a must watch, by the way… and did anyone else have a problem with logging in the past couple of days?

Thanks to lonlyheart and stephanie for reviewing. Special thanks to **Rachel Sedai, nerdysunny and logi. Your opinions count!**

Logi: Glad you feel that way! Hang on for a while, you might like the story turns out…

Rachel Sedai: Thanks! Tries to smile modestly, but fails…

Hope y'all liked the chapter! Sorry if it was a bit boring, but reunions are always like that… leave long reviews!

shadylion


	7. The Defence Lesson

**Disclaimer:**Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, the spitting cobra, for what it's worth, is mine…

"_D'you… know of any place that's… guarded by… snakes?" _

_Their reaction was unexpected. Ginny turned white as sheet, the rest of them had their mouths open. Neville recovered first, "How did… how did you know?"_

"_I don't know anything," Harry said quickly, thinking fast. "I… I had a dream last night…"_

_Ginny shuddered, he turned to her, concerned. What had he said?_

"_The Chamber of Secrets," she whispered._

**Chapter 7**

**The Defence against Dark Arts Lesson**

"The Chamber of Secrets?" Harry repeated after her, looking at her concerned. She seemed awfully pale. _Something was wrong._

"Do you remember what happened there, Harry?"

Harry frowned at Hermione, who had interrupted his thoughts. He pondered briefly whether to tell them the truth, but decided that they didn't need to know yet. Right then, the Pensieve was probably the most important thing in his life, and he didn't want Dumbledore to hear of it.

"I told you, I had a dream about it. The entrance was behind a sink in a bathroom."

"_Girls'_ bathroom," corrected Ron, with a rather grim expression on his face.

Realization struck Harry. "It's at _Hogwarts_," he cried excitedly. _Right under Dumbledore's crooked nose… Why had he kept the Pensieve there of all places?_

"We'll show you," Hermione said, tapping the stone Pensieve. "But it'll have to wait, we really should go in chronological order…"

"_No,"_ Harry said firmly. "I want to know. It… seems important. What's with the snake guardians and all?"

Hermione pursed her lips, and launched into a story about the four founders of Hogwarts, how Slytherin had fallen out with the rest of them, how he'd left behind a legacy of sorts to his heir, how the Chamber was opened in their second year and how the monster in the Chamber was supposed to cleanse the school of Muggle-borns.

"_I'm_ the heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked, very much dreading the answer. He did _not_ want to cleanse the school of Muggle-borns.

"Plenty of people thought so," replied Hermione, with a shrug. "But the real culprit was Voldemort…"

"And I thought you said Hogwarts was _safe_?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Or rather, it was his diary," continued Hermione, as though Harry hadn't interrupted at all. "Lucius Malfoy, that's Draco's father, he slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron. And then…" she faltered, eyeing Ginny nervously, "Voldemort possessed Ginny, and opened the Chamber."

Ginny was chalk-white, Ron was nervously patting her hand. "I still get nightmares about Tom Riddle," she whispered to Harry.

"I'm sorry. I should never have mentioned it," he replied softly.

She shook her head. "You didn't know. And besides," she added, with a watery smile, "It turned out all right in the end. _You_ made it all right in the end."

"_Me?"_

"Yep," Neville told him grinning, "you defeated the Basilisk… stabbed it with the sword of Gryffindor."

Harry's head was whirling. _A Basilisk? Sword of Gryffindor?_

"Anyway," he said, remembering, "The Chamber of Secrets can only be opened by a Parselmouth, right? And they're supposed to be pretty rare?"

"You and Voldemort are probably the only ones in Britain," Hermione informed him.

_So the Pensieve was safe. Only Voldemort could get to it apart from him, but since it was at Hogwarts, he couldn't. He'd chosen a very safe place to hide it…_

Hermione was looking at him suspiciously. "Why do you want to open the Chamber?"

Harry realized he had to change the subject very quickly. "I don't," he told her cheerfully. "Now," he picked up the stone bowl, "Let's put this to use, shall we?"

It worked. Hermione explained to the others how to put memories in the Pensieve, and while snapping at Ron for not getting the idea quickly, she forgot all about the Chamber of Secrets.

Ron was the first to try it out. Frowning with intense concentration, he touched his wand to his forehead. When he removed the wand, there appeared to be a thin silver hair sticking to it. Beaming with pride, he dropped it in the stone vessel.

"Now what?"

Harry looked at the swirling silvery liquid, and somehow knew what to do. He put out his finger and gently dipped it in. There was a sudden lurching sensation, as though he had fallen head-first into the Pensieve, but when he opened his eyes, his mouth dropped open in shock.

He was in a railway station.

"It's the first time we went to Hogwarts," came a voice behind him, making him whirl around. Ron and Hermione were standing in front of him. Neville, Luna and Ginny appeared behind them silently, all of them looking around with wonder on their faces.

A bald man wearing a check suit passed _through_ Ron, who gave a strangled yell. "These are only memories, Ron," Hermione told him testily. "They can't see you or harm you…" She started looking around and pointed suddenly, "There you are!"

All of them turned around to see where she was pointing. Mrs. Weasley, followed by five red-haired children was hurrying down the platform. They stopped between Platform Nine and Ten, Harry looked at them closely. Mrs. Weasley looked very much the same. Ron was standing next to her, a very _young_ Ron, Ginny was there as well, as were Fred and George and another red-head he didn't recognize.

He turned around to look at the others. Ginny was staring at her younger self in fascination, who was begging her mother to let her go to Hogwarts. Hermione nudged Ron and pointed, "Look, there's the black mark on your nose." She giggled, while Ron blushed, "Ah, well. That was a long time ago…"

"I think Ronald looks cute," Luna piped up, scrutinizing the younger Ron. (The older one looked at her in alarm and moved slightly behind Hermione.)

"Who's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the unknown Weasley. (A/N: A tribute to one of my reviewers!)

"Oh, that's Percy," Ron said, while the oldest boy strode off to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and disappeared. Harry's mouth was open again, Ron explained that it was the entrance to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting. Ginny (the older one) squealed suddenly, "Look Harry, there you are!"

He turned quickly and looked at his eleven year old self. He was small, skinny and pale, no difference there, but he was wearing round glasses, which had a lot of Sellotape on them to keep them together.

"I wore glasses?" he asked Ron, incredulously.

"You wore them until a year ago, actually, when you decided that they got in the way during a duel. You got your sight corrected magically"

Harry saw himself taking a deep breath, and walk over to the Weasleys, where Mrs. Weasley greeted him and told him how to get on to the platform. He set off and disappeared as well, as soon as he touched the barrier.

The three of them followed Harry soon after, as did the six observers. Harry gasped as he saw the purple steam engine, and the hundreds of witches and wizards crowding the platform.

Mrs. Weasley was giving Ron some last minute advice, while comforting Ginny at the same time, who seemed very upset that she was not going to Hogwarts as well.

Fred and George Weasley reappeared just as Mrs. Weasley noticed the black mark on Ron's nose and began wiping it in earnest. After making fun of him for a while, Fred, or perhaps it was George, said, "Hey mum, guess who we met on the train?"

The other twin continued, "You know the black haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

And both of them said together, _"Harry Potter!"_

The reaction was immediate. Ron and Mrs. Weasley gasped, and Ginny started to beg her mother to let her get on the train to get a look at Harry Potter. Harry started to laugh, and looked at the older Ginny, who was blushing very prettily, refusing to catch his eye, but laughing as well.

"That's the sort of reaction you had on everyone back then, Harry," said Neville, clapping his back.

Soon the scene in front of them faded away, and they found themselves back in their room, with the Pensieve glittering on the floor.

"Damn," said Ron, "I tried to get more in, but it didn't seem to go…"

"With more practice, Ron, I'm sure it'll be fine. It was a good first try, now it's my turn."

"Wait," Harry frowned, something was nagging him, something he saw in the Pensieve, or rather, something he _didn't_ see…

"I was alone at the platform," he said slowly, "Whom did I come with? Whom did I stay with for ten years?"

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, before Ron up, "Your aunt and uncle, Harry. They're Muggles, and don't like magic much. I don't reckon you had a very good time with them."

Harry paused, and let this information sink in. Then he realized it didn't matter, that was far back in the past…

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the Pensieve. Harry saw how he'd made friends with Ron on the train, and his first encounter with Draco Malfoy and his cronies. He saw his first glimpse of Hogwarts with it's many turrets and fell in love with it immediately. He saw his first flying lesson, and gasped in shock as he dove to the ground and barely managed to catch Neville's Remembrall.

Hermione was itching to carry out Dumbledore's other order (or request, as she liked to put it.) Harry was more keen on watching their memories, but as Hermione grew increasingly vocal, they were forced to adjourn the Pensieve sessions.

By general agreement, they decided to start off with Defence against Dark Arts. Hermione assumed the role of the instructor, and irritated all of them by going into a detailed explanation of the 'Expelliarmus' hex. After about ten minutes, Ron was the first to crack, and cut short Hermione's lecture simply by holding his hand to her mouth and telling Harry his modified explanation 'Point the wand, shout the curse, catch the other fellow's wand'…

"Here, I'll show you," Ron said, releasing Hermione, who gave Ron a death glare and stalked off haughtily to the couch, where she was joined by very thankful looking Neville, Luna and Ginny. Harry held the wand in front of him, feeling very foolish.

"_Expelliarmus,"_ Ron cried. Harry reacted so fast that he was moving before even realizing it. He moved slightly, presenting his profile to Ron, held up his wand and muttered _"Protego"_, quickly followed by _"Stupefy"_.

Ron didn't realize that Harry had countered the curse, since he had spoken softly. The red light of the Expelliarmus spell appeared to hit an invisible barrier and rebounded towards Ron, closely followed by the red light of the Stunner. Ron didn't have a chance to move, and the twin beams of light hit his chest, his wand went shooting into the air, and he went flying back. Luckily, there was an armchair behind him, but unluckily he was moving very fast. He crashed into the armchair and toppled back head-first onto the floor, after which he did not move.

"_Ron!"_

Harry stood looking wide-eyed at what he'd done. He raced over to where Ron was lying prone, closely followed by the others. Hermione pointed her wand at him, and cried _"Enervate." _Thankfully, Ron began to stir.

"Ouch, my head," he sat up, looking at them, "What happened?"

Any thoughts that Ron had become an amnesiac as well flew out of his head, as Ron glared at him, "What'd you do that for?"

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled, "I didn't realize… I didn't know I could do that. It was… sort of an instinctive reaction, I guess."

Hermione had a very worried expression on her face as she examined Ron's head. "Well, there's no blood, thankfully…" Harry started to apologize again, but was interrupted by Hermione's shrill shout, _"If only you had waited till I had finished explaining!" _The worried expression was long gone…

Ron's expression was priceless. "And how, pray would it have helped my poor head by knowing the exact wand movements behind the curse that _rebounded_ and hit me?" And he shot a dirty look at Harry before continuing, "And it isn't like I _expected_ it to rebound in the first case…"

Harry started to apologize again for the third time, but was cut off by Ron waving his hand dismissively, "No harm done."

"Actually," Ginny said, looking at Harry with admiration in her brown eyes, "It was a pretty amazing display of reflexes."

"Well," Harry cleared his throat, feeling his face colour, "Actually…" eyeing Ron nervously. Ron laughed and thumped Harry's back, "Modest as usual, Harry."

"Are you sure you didn't _mean_ to do that, Harry?" Neville asked him.

Harry shook his head. "Let's do something else," said Ron excitedly, jumping up.

Hermione stood up as well, and faced Ron, putting her hands on her hips, which somehow reminded Harry of Mrs. Weasley. She hardly came up to his shoulder, but made a pretty impressive sight anyway. She poked Ron's chest with her forefinger, and said firmly, "Oh no you don't, Ronald Weasley. You are coming downstairs this minute to let your mother take a look at the bump on your head."

"Aw, come on, Hermione. It'll take more than a silly bump to…"

Hermione acted as though he hadn't spoken at all. 'She was really good at that,' Harry marveled, as she continued, "Besides, it's nearly tea-time…"

And so it was. There were no more objections from Ron, as they shuffled downstairs.

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They were joined at the table by the Weasley twins, who regaled them with tales about their store and had them rolling about their seats in laughter. Hermione pursed her lips, "Really, do you think that is… Eeek!" as Ron, who was sitting beside her grew a pair of dangerous looking horns.

Harry jumped in shock. "What happened?" His voice came out as a shrill shriek. "What happened to my voice?" His voice grew shriller, causing all of them to hold their hands to their ears.

Fred winced, and looked at George, "A little much, eh brother?"

"Absolutely, old boy, we got to tune down the frequency a bit…"

Harry grew indignant, his "What did you do to me?" sent shudders down the table. Neville got up, pointed his wand at Harry and told him earnestly, "Harry, I love you like a brother, but if you talk again, I won't be held responsible for my actions."

George had a stopwatch in his hand, which he'd started as soon as Ron had grown his horns. Fred pulled out a parchment from with his robes, and wrote with his tongue between his teeth, _'Test subjects – Harry Potter and Ron Weasley'._ "Eh?" asked Ron, looking up with dawning horror on his face. Fred continued writing, talking aloud, _'Products tested – Shrieking Snacks and _(looking up and grinning at Ron evilly) _Minotaur Mints'._ Ron blanched and felt the huge horns growing out of his forehead. He winced as he encountered the sharp ends.

"Oy Fred, we got to make the horns blunter. We don't want anyone getting hurt, do we?" said George, who was watching Ron closely.

Fred smirked, "'Course not!" and made a note in his parchment.

"Ah, the benefits of a large family…" Harry was very glad that George considered him to be part of the family, but asked himself whether it was worth it…

Ron looked as though he was about to explode, but he was spared the job when Mrs. Weasley entered the room. One look at Ron's new horns, and her _"Fred and George Weasley!" _rivaled Harry's shrieks.

Suddenly, Ron's horns started disappearing. George dived for the watch and stopped it. "Two minutes," he informed Fred, who wrote it down diligently. "Harry, I think you can talk now."

Harry eyed Neville nervously, but asked them, "What did you do to me?" Thankfully, it came out in his normal voice. Neville put his wand away.

"Shrieking Snacks and Minotaur Mints can be purchased at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Number 92, Diagon Alley," intoned Fred, as George passed him and Ron slips of paper. Harry opened his found that it was a gift coupon for the amount of one galleon at the WWW.

"I've got about seven of those," grumbled Ron, but he pocketed it anyway.

They were interrupted by a scream from the hallway. The shrieks seemed to go on and on. Harry jumped to his feet in alarm, but noticed that everyone else was still sitting, with expressions of patient suffering on their faces.

"Looks like the Silencing spell has worn off, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley sighed, getting up. "I'd better go and see who it is."

Harry followed her, wondering why everyone was taking this so lightly. He soon found out, the screams were coming from the portrait of an old woman in the hallway. She was screaming out insults, "FILTHY MUDBLOODS, DISGRACING THE HOUSE OF BLACK"

_This was the House of Black? If Phineas Nigellas had this as a password, he was probably one of the Black ancestors…_

Mrs. Weasley made a stabbing motion with her wand, shouting _"Silencio!" _The woman appeared to continue screaming, but no sound could be heard.

"Ugh, thank god, Mum. I forgot that the portrait was here." A man emerged from the shadows and hugged Mrs. Weasley. He was still recognizable as the boy Harry had seen in the Pensieve…

He looked up at Harry, and suddenly seemed to grow limp in his mother's arms. Harry could make out his pupils dilating in… _fear?_

"Are you all right, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked him, worriedly. The man's gaze was still fixed on Harry.

"Hey… Harry," he finally croaked out. Mrs. Weasley turned around, she hadn't noticed Harry follow her. Harry stared at him, he could hear his pulse racing, he could _feel_ the man's heart beating almost painfully against his chest…

Percy Weasley was _very, very _nervous…

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**A/N: **Apologies for the late update. My niece was born a week back, and I spent quite a bit of time at the hospital…

Hopefully the reason why the Pensieve is in the Chamber is quite clear. And Harry does _not_ lose all his memories 'cos he put them in a Pensieve… Will make it clearer in the next chapter…

Can anyone guess what's up with Percy? Quite easy actually!

Thanks to **cynosure the hierophant, Dark-Syaoran, fhippogriff, Rachel Sedai, dude, Treck, logi, HLBabi **and **gaul1 **for reviewing.

Hope the chapter was good, leave long reviews!

shadylion


	8. Duelling

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter is owned by J.K.Rowling, I'm only borrowing him for a while…

"_Are you all right, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked him, worriedly. The man's gaze was still fixed on Harry._

"_Hey… Harry," he finally croaked out. Mrs. Weasley turned around, she hadn't noticed Harry follow her. Harry stared at him, he could hear his pulse racing, he could feel the man's heart beating almost painfully against his chest…_

_Percy Weasley was very, very nervous…_

**Chapter 8**

**Duelling**

Percy bared his teeth in what he probably imagined to be a smile. "Glad… glad to see you're fine. No lasting harm, eh?" This came out in a high pitched squeak. Mrs. Weasley hurriedly whispered a few words in his ears. Percy simply stared at her, and Mrs. Weasley started to whisper again, presumably to repeat herself.

Harry wondered why she was whispering. It wasn't as though his amnesia was a big secret or something. He spoke up, "It's all right, Mrs. Weasley. No need to whisper." Mrs. Weasley flushed as Percy stepped past her, his eyes scrutinizing Harry behind his horn-rimmed spectacles.

"Hello, Harry." His voice seemed more normal now, Harry noted. "I'm Percy Weasley." As Harry shook his hand, he idly wondered whether to use Legilimency to find out what the matter was. But he remembered an oath he'd made…

_He was sitting at the feet of the great stone statue of Salazar Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets. The only light was from the flickering torches high on the walls of the Chamber. The great shadows of the stone pillars moved irregularly, like a badly choreographed shadow-dance._

"_Naina," he hissed in Parseltongue. He waited for a few moments, and repeated with a hint of impatience in his voice, "Naina!"_

_There was movement in the shadows, he turned quickly, his senses on high alert. The snake emerged from the shadows, about four feet long, and a sickly white in colour. Of course, it could have been of any colour, perhaps it only appeared white because of the darkness in the Chamber. "Young master," the snake greeted, when it slithered over to him, inclining it's head slightly._

"_You promised," he said briefly. _

_The snake nodded slowly, "Yes, indeed I did."_

"_Well, let's start then." The excitement in his voice was exceeded only by impatience. The snake looked at him for a long moment, he looked away quickly, feeling the hypnotic effect of it's gaze._

"_A word of warning before we begin, young master." The snake paused, apparently choosing it's words carefully. "You should know that the gift you are going to…acquire, is quite valuable." The snake paused again, Harry was sure that it was more for effect than anything else. Snakes apparently had a flair for drama..._

"_The mind," it continued, "is the most important part of the body…perhaps of the soul as well. Mind Magic is an art that should not be abused, for the mind is sacred, it must not be…"_

"_Very well, Naina," he interrupted, holding up his hand, "I, Harry James Potter, solemnly swear not to use my skills in Mind Magic except when the need is absolute. And," he continued with a bit of a snicker, "I promise to treat the mind with the respect it deserves…"_

_The snake nodded seriously. "Let us begin then…"_

Harry took a deep breath. It was tempting, yes, but an oath was an oath. Even though he did not quite know the full circumstances under which he'd hade the oath, he felt obliged to stand by it. With a sigh, he turned to go back to the kitchen. Just as he turned away, he could have sworn that Percy let out a small sigh of relief.

Harry gritted his teeth as he sat down next to Ron. He was struck by an idea, and he turned to Ron, who was shoveling down great amounts of food, "Ron, your brother Percy's here…" He stopped as a scowl appeared on Ron's face. With some difficulty, Ron swallowed his food, "Oh, he's here is he?" he said darkly, looking over at the doorway. "Yeah, listen, why is he…" he trailed off as Percy entered with his mother. He was surprised when Ron and the twins completely ignored him, while Ginny gave him a lukewarm welcome. Only Mrs. Weasley was fussing around him, continuously talking, much as she fussed around Harry. Evidently, Percy Weasley had had a fallout with the rest of the family.

Ron looked at him quizzically, but Harry shook his head. They would discuss Percy in the privacy of their bedroom afterwards.

The rest of the meal passed in relative silence. Percy's presence seemed to be an efficient dampener on the twins' exuberance. He kept shooting odd looks at Harry throughout the meal, when he thought Harry wasn't looking. Harry quickly tired of this, and he smiled at Percy, who visibly flinched and turned away.

Afterwards, Ron and the twins marched off to their room, leaving Harry and Ginny to say goodbye to Percy. As they walked upstairs, Harry remarked, "Well, he doesn't seem to like me much."

Ginny laughed. "Oh, the git doesn't trust you, he even tried to warn us to stay away from you once. It's a long story really," she added, as Harry was about to ask what he'd done. Harry nodded, not really satisfied, but decided to worry about it later.

They spent the rest of the day with the Pensieve. Harry watched as he, Ron, Hermione and Neville were nearly eaten alive by a giant, three-headed dog, which oddly enough, as Ron informed him, was called Fluffy. He watched as he and Ron saved Hermione from a mountain troll, forging the friendship that was to last from then on. He couldn't help laughing as his younger self stuck his wand up the troll's nose. After dinner, Hermione bored them all stupid by making them sit through one of McGonagall's Transfiguration classes in their first year.

After about five minutes, Fred yawned and looked at his watch. "Interesting as it was to relive my Hogwarts days…"

"We have to be off now," George finished. "Busy day tomorrow."

"I'll see you off," Ron said gratefully, and the three of them disappeared from the memory.

"Er… Hermione?" Neville said cautiously after a few minutes. "We'll never get done if you show Harry every class he's ever attended… Plus, I think he's asleep…" Sure enough, Harry was sitting on the floor with a dreamy expression on his face, as McGonagall explained the principles behind the transfiguration of a matchstick to a pin.

"Oh, all right," snapped Hermione, looking rather put out. Her expression softened slightly as she looked at Harry, "I think we should all turn in anyway. It's been a long day."

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The next day, Harry woke up late. As he went down for break fast, he saw that everyone had nearly finished, and Mrs. Weasley had just paid an owl which had delivered the newspaper.

"Really, the delivery owls get later by the day," muttered Mrs. Weasley distractedly, trying to read the paper while buttering toast for Harry at the same time. Mr. Weasley gently took the paper from her, and opened it.

"No news of your release yet, Harry," he informed him, handing Ron the sports section. Harry could make out the title, _'Wigtown Wanderers win wands down'. _Ron would not be pleased, he had informed all of them yesterday that they were playing the Chudley Cannons…

Harry bit into the toast that Mrs. Weasley offered him. "Maybe they didn't think it was important enough to put in the paper," he offered, chewing his food. It took about five seconds of silence at the table for him to realize that he had said something stupid.

"Believe it, Harry," Ron told him, waving the paper in front of him. "If you made a public statement regarding the colour of your underwear," he tapped the paper, "it would make the front page." His face darkened as his eye caught the headlines, and he retired from the conversation, poring over the offending article instead.

Harry coloured slightly, as the rest of them laughed. "Succinctly put, but essentially true," Mr. Weasley said with a smile. "Dumbledore must be keeping it quiet for now…"

"There were all sorts of rumours in the papers after Halloween last year," Neville informed him. "That you were dead, or that You-Know-Who had captured you, or that you had joined You-Know-Who…"

"Or that you had joined a Muggle rock band and were touring America at the moment," Hermione broke in, with a disapproving glance at Luna.

Not knowing whether they were still pulling his leg, Harry simply nodded uncommittedly, as Mr. Weasley questioned Hermione interestedly, "Rocks, you say?"

"Harry," Mrs. Weasley approached him with a gleam in her eye, "Would you like me to trim your hair a bit, dear? It's a tad too long you know." She fingered her wand lovingly.

"Er…" Harry put his hand to his hair. Eight months without a haircut _had_ left an impact of sorts… but he was loath to let it go, the hair did a good job of covering his rather thin face. Fortunately Ginny, Hermione and even Luna came to his rescue.

"C'mon mum, he's not Bill…"

"It's the current fashion in the Muggle world, Mrs. Weasley…"

"He looks a bit like Kirley McCormack this way," said Luna.

Ginny looked at Harry critically, "Nah, _his_ nose is much shorter, but yeah, the resemblance is there."

"Who's Kirley McCormack?" asked Harry, drinking orange juice from a rather heavy silver goblet.

"He's the lead guitarist of the Weird Sisters," replied Ginny. She sighed when Harry continued to stare at her blankly. "A famous wizarding band, Harry…"

"Oh…"

They spent the rest of the morning looking at their memories from Harry's first year. Harry had a sudden idea. He turned to Hermione, who had just deposited a memory in the Pensieve, "Hermione, do you remember which memory you put in?" Hermione frowned for a moment, "Well, the details are a bit hazy, but I remember the overall event. It was a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Snape was the referee, and we won it…"

Harry nodded thoughtfully. _Putting memories in a Pensieve did not erase the ones in your head._ So, his memory was erased by some other method…

After lunch, Hermione decided to test Harry's Defence knowledge again. This time, however, she took the precaution of clearing the furniture and placing Cushioning charms on the walls and floor.

Hermione looked at him thoughtfully. "Harry, I have a theory." Ignoring the 'Surprise, surprise!' from Ron, she continued, "It's possible that your previous knowledge… comes back to you in times of need."

Harry pondered over this and nodded slowly. "So," Hermione continued, "We're going to skip the theory and have a duel instead." Giving an evil glare to Ron who heaved a great sigh, she continued, "Who wants to go first?"

Neville volunteered, so the others moved over by the wall while Harry and Neville faced each other and bowed. Harry tried to let himself be guided by instinct, like when he faced off against Ron, and tried not to think too much about the duel.

Something clicked in his head, and he changed his stance, holding his wand in front of him and presenting his profile to Neville, who did the same. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione nod approvingly.

Neville acted immediately. _'Stupefy'_ he shouted. Harry didn't bother putting up a shield, the spell was going to miss him, but he took a step left anyway. _'Expelliarmus'_ muttered Harry, but the red beam of light gave Neville plenty of warning and he managed to put up a shield.

This continued for a few minutes, with neither of them having an advantage, although Harry seemed to rely more on dodging the spell than shielding himself, when Hermione called out, "All right Neville, you can step it up a bit."

Without as much as a nod of acknowledgement, Neville pointed his wand at Harry, and spoke softly, imitating Harry's technique. A jet of fire shot out from his wand. Harry simply stood there as the flames headed towards him.

"_Do something,"_ his brain screamed at him.

_Fire… fire…water puts out fire… and the water spell is…_

"_Aqueous," _cried Harry. In his excitement, he forgot his policy of speaking the spell-words softly. Nevertheless, a jet of water emerged from his wand, and managed to consume the flames that were heading towards him. There was a hiss, and white smoke hung in the air, obscuring his view of Neville.

Harry didn't wait for the smoke to clear, he ran softly to a spot ten feet from where he guessed Neville would be, from his side. A sudden gust of wind told him that Neville was trying to clear the vapour.

'_Expelliarmus,"_ he cried as the smoke began to clear. To his delight, Neville's wand came soaring towards him. Neville smiled sheepishly at him, "I didn't really expect you to move there when you did." As Harry handed Neville his wand back, he noticed the others clapping. Hermione looked exceptionally pleased with herself.

"Bloody brilliant, Harry," Ron said, clapping his back, "Though I notice that you didn't give him a concussion like you did me…"

"I was right," said Hermione, excitedly, "Perhaps if you use some Transfiguration in the duel next time, we can see how much you remember in that. Potions may be a little difficult to test you in, though. And History of Magic as well…"

"Hermione," Ginny said patiently, "Harry wasn't even enrolled in the History of Magic class last year. Neither were you for that matter…"

"That's not the point, Ginny. It's about his learning back whatever he's forgotten."

Apparently no one felt like arguing with Hermione at this point, so they let it slide.

Harry duelled with Hermione and Luna after that, and defeated both of them, much to his surprise. He nearly met his match in Ginny though. Like him, she favoured dodging the spells instead of countering them and she was a difficult target to hit, as she was moving around most of the time. He grew tired quickly after a few minutes, and started panting heavily. _'Courtesy of Azkaban'_ he thought, feeling that his lungs were about to burst. He finally managed to defeat her by conjuring a deep blue concave shield, with deflected spells right back at the caster. Hermione later assured him that it was quite a complex charm he'd used, well beyond N.E.W.T syllabus.

They continued with the Pensieve later, with a brief interruption from Hermione after tea, who wanted to see if Harry remembered anything from the History of Magic classes.

"D'you know why goblins didn't attend the Convention of Magical Beings in 1705, inspite of being personally invited by the then Minister of Magic, Harry?"

"Er… Goblins? They really exist?"

That was the end of their History lesson.

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The next few days were spent in a similar fashion. Harry watched with a mixture of horror and fascination when he, Ron and Hermione broke through the series of obstacles guarding the Philosopher's Stone. He thought it was a miracle that they continued to be at his side even after he'd put their life in danger, it was unbelievable that they chose to follow him down the trapdoor in the first place. How he was able to command such loyalty he did not know…

That night, Mrs. Weasley handed Ginny and Luna two envelopes. "Your O.W.L results," she told them.

"But… but," Ginny said puzzled, "They aren't due for another three weeks…"

"Dumbledore pulled a few strings at the Ministry. I managed to convince him to let all of you go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, so you all can buy your books. Staying cooped up in the house," she glanced at Harry, "isn't good for anyone. Besides, no one knows that we've found you yet, Harry, so now's really the best time to go."

"So, how'd you do, Ginny?" Hermione seemed keener to see her results than Ginny herself.

"Not too bad," she replied, "Nine O.W.Ls. How about you, Luna?"

"The same," Luna told her, handing the letter over to Neville after giving it a cursory glance."

There was a chorus of congratulations all around the table, which Harry joined, though he really didn't know whether nine O.W.Ls were good or bad.

"You got eight," Ginny told him, spotting his expression. "So did Ron and Neville. Hermione on the other hand, got twelve…"

"The highest possible score," Ron finished, while Hermione tried not to look too pleased with herself.

Mrs. Weasley shooed them off to bed early, telling them that they had a long day ahead of them the next day. In their bedroom, Ron told Harry about Diagon Alley and what it had to offer, he went on for a rather long time about a certain shop named _Quality Quidditch Supplies_. He was describing a certain broomstick called _Firebolt Excelsior _when Harry fell asleep, tired from the day's activities.

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**A/N: **Hey all, I know this is a little late, it's cos I'm working on another story at the moment as well… it'll be up soon. About Percy… three people got it right, but I thought it would be better to reveal it after about three chapters or so…

Thanks to the reviewers… **nonjon, shinigami, fhippogriff, gaul1, Rachel Sedai, Quillian, Slytherin-Angel44, Lady Foxfire, wackey, DestroyerDRT, firelegs, Dragonero, Calen, Silver Warrior** and **wiley73**. All your reviews are much appreciated. Special thanks to **_Kaede Laelithar_** for a supportive e-mail and a list of great fics…

A lot of questions, sorry, I don't want to give anything away!

**Nonjon:** Does Harry really appear to be rather inept and powerless? Well, he did manage to get the better of Dumbledore after all, and this isn't quite a superharry fic, but his powers are growing… And I think you have some serious issues with romance stuff, this story hardly has any! Cliffies, yeah, guess it's time someone told me off about them!

**Rachel Sedai:** Sorry, nope!

**Firelegs: **Yep, I've read the Earl of the North… You're right, it's pretty good.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter… See that little Go button near the left bottom corner of your screen? Click on it!

Next Chapter, Diagon Alley!

shadylion


	9. Diagon Alley

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling. I'm merely using him to quench my thirst for creative writing. Stay away, lawyer dudes!

**Chapter 9**

**Diagon Alley**

The next day was a Sunday. Harry wondered why they were going on a weekend, when there were bound to be a crowd, with a lot of people who could probably recognize him, but Hermione told him that it was easier to be inconspicuous when there were a lot of people around than when there weren't any. "We found that out the hard way in our fifth year," she added darkly, leaving Harry mystified.

The six of them arrived at Leaky Cauldron at ten in the morning, with their escorts, Lupin and Tonks. Lupin had insisted that they use Muggle transport, as the Floo system was not as secure as they would like. Ron grumbled about the infernally slow Muggle contraptions, but they ended up taking two taxis to Charing Cross anyway. His father would have probably gone into raptures at the prospect of traveling the Muggle way, but Ron shared none of Mr. Weasley's enthusiasm for all things Muggle.

They had all been given Portkeys, to get out of Diagon Alley at any signs of trouble, otherwise known as Death Eaters. Harry hadn't liked the idea much, but he dutifully wore the Portkey anyway (it was in the form of a ring).

They hurried through the pub into the back alley. To Harry's surprise, there were two Aurors standing guard. He didn't know whether he _ought_ to be surprised, but he somehow sensed that their presence was not normal. Then he recognized them and smiled.

Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody wore pale blue robes, with the symbol of crossed wands on the chest. Below was written… meaning _'Death before Dishonour'. _The Aurors' crest, Harry realized, along with their motto…

The others' handed their wands to Moody. Harry held out his wand as well, but Moody ignored it. He cast a spell over the wands, _'Scaccus Deorc Incantatem'._ The seven wands immediately glowed white at their tips. Harry somehow knew that if the same spell were to be cast on his wand, it would probably glow black… the spell was to check if Dark spells had been cast with the wand recently.

Kingsley was apparently engaged in a head count. "One two three four five six… and seven." _And there are eight of us, _Harry thought inwardly. He smiled when Kingsley gave him a conspiratorial wink.

_This whole trip had been planned carefully, down to the last detail…_

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They stepped through the stone entrance that opened up before them. Harry took in the narrow street before him, lined with shops on either side, he had been right, there was quite a crowd bustling about.

It was drizzling slightly, and the dark clouds above their heads promised worse to come. Harry was thankful for the cloak and hood he was wearing as a disguise. The hood covered most of his features, people glanced at him suspiciously. Atleast the cloak was brown in colour, he thought to himself, it wouldn't do for people to think he was a Death Eater…

Lupin told them that they had best visit Gringotts first, which was a wizarding bank, run by goblins, Neville told him. As they made their way down the alley, Harry looked around with great interest. There seemed to be shops that catered to anyone and _everyone_. A few bookstores, shops that sold cauldrons, magical baggage, owls, robes, telescopes, crystal balls… everything. A few eateries, Harry made a mental note to visit one of them that sold delicious looking ice-creams.

They soon reached a white building that towered over most of the small shops next to it. The white walls were gleaming despite the cloudy weather. As they climbed the steps, Harry noticed that the walls were dry, as was the front porch. "An _Impervius_ charm," Hermione murmured, and Harry realized that she was right.

They reached the burnished bronze doors of the bank. Standing next to a plaque, wearing a uniform of red and gold was a…

"Yeah, that's a goblin," Ron told him quietly, as they entered. Somehow, the words seemed very familiar.

They entered a huge marble hall, with atleast a hundred goblins sitting behind counters. Lupin walked up to a free goblin and spoke to him, too softly for Harry to make out the words. The goblin nodded, and yet another led them through a door, to what appeared to be a stone passage. Bewildered, Harry followed the others and sat down in one of the two waiting carts. And they were off…

A few minutes later, Harry emerged from the cart, his knees shaking slightly. The goblin opened the vault, and Harry simply stood staring, at the threshold of what appeared to be Aladdin's cave of treasure.

He turned back, and asked in a husky voice, "This… is mine?" The others smiled and nodded at him. Ron's smile appeared to be a trifle forced, but Harry didn't think any further of it. As Lupin explained to him about Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, Harry gathered some of the money into his pouch.

They visited the Lovegood vault next, followed by the Longbottom one. Both of them had plenty of money, although nowhere near the amount in his vault. Harry felt downright terrible when they reached the Weasley vault though… it had very little money, and Ron counted out the exact amount they were supposed to withdraw.

Harry had almost forgotten the weather outside before they stepped out, it had been warm and dry inside Gringotts. The rain had picked up, it was no longer a light drizzle. There were large puddles on the road, and the pitter-patter of the tiny rivulets of rainfall falling from the roofs of the shops formed a steady background noise against that of the crowd. _So much for the day outside,_ he thought to himself morosely.

"Where now?" he asked, to no one in particular.

Hermione wanted to go to Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, but Ron adamantly stood his ground, stating quite eloquently that Hermione was bound to spend atleast an hour there, and that he was damned (he used a stronger term actually…) if he was going to waste that long on their day out.

"Why don't we go to Madam Malkins' first," interjected Lupin quietly, effectively silencing Hermione when she opened her mouth to retort back. "I'm sure that Harry needs to buy some new robes."

This was true enough. Harry had to borrow Ron's and Neville's robes the past few days, Ron's were too long for him, and Neville's simply weren't meant for a person of his slight build. So, he nodded eagerly as they went to Madam Malkins' Robes for all Occasions.

As they passed Eyelops' Owl Emporium, a thought struck Harry. "By the way, I just remembered…" he turned to the others, "Where's Hedwig?"

Lupin answered, "She's safe, don't worry, with Hagrid at the moment. We tried to use her to track you down after you disappeared last Halloween, you know, but it was no use. Azkaban completely suppresses a wizard's magical signature, she couldn't find you. That alone made us think…" he broke off, not wanting to spoil the moment. He chuckled slightly, "Hagrid tells me that she's been rather restless for a few days now, she's evidently sensed your presence. _'In a righ' state, she is,'_ were the very words he used."

Harry smiled slightly, he could picture Hagrid saying that _very_ clearly. "Why not just send her over?" he suggested. "Well, she is rather noticeable, you know, a white owl and all that… if she were to be seen near Grimmauld Place, it might give away the location."

Harry didn't think this was very likely, but he left it at that.

They entered Madam Malkins' store, there were no other customers when they entered. She was rather alarmed when Harry entered, he supposed that the fact that he was wearing a brown cloak instead of black did not make him any less menacing. Thankfully however, she clamed down when Neville entered, it appeared that she was close to his grandmother. While she enquired after his 'Granny Laura', a measuring tape was taking Harry's measurements automatically. They bought a few black robes (Hogwarts standard), and a pair of dragonhide boots, which Harry wore immediately as his trainers where already wet from the rain. Tonks recommended buying a pair of dress robes as well. Harry left the selection to the girls, who seemed rather eager, but his patience wore thin when they looked through all the dress robes in the store (or so it seemed), talking loudly all the time about 'bringing out the colour of his eyes' and 'presenting a contrast with his skin colour'. It was nice, no doubt, that they spared no effort to find the 'perfect match', but there was no denying that the whole process was bloody boring. Finally they settled on a pair of charcoal grey and bottle green robes.

"Where now?" Harry asked them, as they left the store laden with parcels.

"Here," Ron said, taking Harry's hand and dragging him into _Quality Quidditch Supplies_, leaving no room for argument. Harry didn't really have an objection, so he followed Ron around, as he discoursed knowledgably about the latest brooms on the market. Both the Cleansweep and the Nimbus companies had come out with new models apparently, with the _Cleansweep Nine_ and the _Nimbus Two Thousand and Three_. Ron's voice reduced to a hushed whisper when they reached the display window, where a gleaming _Firebolt Excelsior_ was mounted (floating, actually) on an equally polished wooden stand.

"Zero to a hundred and eighty miles an hour in under eight seconds," Ron said, in that unnatural voice (he did not whisper often), "Ebony handle, oak twigs in the broom." He snorted, "Makes the Cleansweep and Nimbus models look like mops, doesn't it?"

Harry could have pointed out that technically, they _were_ mops, but he understood what Ron was saying. The _Firebolt Excelsior_ looked magnificent, with it's gleaming jet black handle and perfectly straight twigs behind, offering all the aerodynamic advantages that were humanly, well magically, possible.

"You need to buy a broom," Ginny spoke up behind him, interrupting his reverie. "Wh-What? I thought I had one already? The Nimbus Two Thousand?"

"That was torn up by the Whomping Willow in our third year," Ron told him, "But then…" he hesitated, looking at Ginny for help. She dutifully continued, "You got a Firebolt, it was a gift from Sirius actually. You… you lost it last year."

"_Lost_ it?"

Ron snorted, "That's what you told us, atleast." He didn't have to add that he clearly didn't believe that, but continued, "But the worst was when…" his face took on a pained expression, "When you decided to play a match with a _school_ broom. Against _Slytherin!_"

"We won that match," Ginny reminded him, smiling slightly. Ron looked as though he would like to rake Harry over the coals (clearly not for the first time) for his crime… but grudgingly deciding that Harry couldn't be held responsible for something he didn't even remember doing.

"Anyway, you need a broom," Ginny told him, for the second time. Ron looked extremely hopeful, and (angrily waving away a nervous saleswizard) began to sing the Excelsior's praises for the second time round. Harry took a look at the price tag, gulped, and looked at Ron's hopeful face and muttered, "Maybe later… by owl order…"

After about ten minutes, Hermione could take it no longer and forcibly dragged Ron away from the store, with willing assistance from Neville. Harry, Ginny and Luna followed more leisurely. Surprisingly, Lupin had to drag Tonks away too, she was a hardcore Quidditch fan and an excellent flier too, apparently. Harry was surprised, considering how much havoc she managed to create on the _ground_, by tripping over her own feet.

They entered Flourish and Blotts', where Ron promptly disappeared in the quest for the latest issue of _Quidditch Through the Ages_, while Hermione asked the clerk for their seventh year texts. She insisted that Harry purchase his seventh year texts as well, for Transfiguration, Defence, Charms, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures. She assured him with a grim smile that she would take it upon herself to make sure that he was prepared adequately. Harry was vaguely disconcerted by the assurance she gave, knowing that it probably meant a long and hard summer ahead, but he bought the books anyway.

Lupin and Tonks added a couple of books to his pile, _Advanced Curses and Shields_ and _Battlefield Survival Guide_. Harry was taken aback by the grim title of the second book, but bought it happily when Tonks confided in him that it was pretty much their bible during the second year of Auror training.

Tonks regaled them all with stories about what rookie Aurors were put through, as a part of their 'orientation', which included tales when she went high on Firewhiskey. She glared when Ron howled so hard that tears flowed freely down his face. "I hear you're trying to become an Auror, Weasley." She gave him an evil grin, "Let's see if you find it this funny _then._" This shut Ron up pretty quick.

As they passed a drab, rather nondescript shop with a broken sign proclaiming it to be _Herbs and Spices_, Harry suddenly stopped. There was nothing special about the shop, it just seemed to be a place where one could purchase potion ingredients, but he felt _drawn_ to it somehow. Fortunately for him, Hermione glanced at the shop and said brightly, "Oh, I nearly forgot, we have to update our Potions supplies."

She made to go inside, but Lupin stopped her. "We're sticking together," he said, his tone mildly reproving. And all of them trooped inside the small shop, Ron muttering something about useless subjects and greasy-haired gits.

As Hermione asked the man behind the counter for some basic potion supplies, Harry glanced around the tiny shop. The shelves covered all four walls, even the window. The only light in the dingy store was from a spluttering oil lantern hung from the ceiling.

The shelves were packed full of jars, Harry could dimly make out a few of the labels, dragon blood, powdered Basilisk fang, Hippogriff claws, unicorn hair and a few hundred others. The man was arbitrarily pulling down jars from the shelves (or so it seemed), tipping out tiny quantities of each into small ampoules, when Harry crossed the threshold.

All at once, there was a loud screech, and the man dropped the jar he was holding, it was full of green slime, which spilled out on to the floor. From the label Harry learnt that it was in fact, Flobberworm pus, but that did not concern him at the moment. What occupied his attention, and that of everyone else in the room, was a white envelope, glowing faintly, and floating towards him.

Harry automatically caught the envelope, and the screeching stopped suddenly. He stared at the white envelope, the screeching still ringing in his ears, while everyone else stared at him. The owner of the shop was the first to break the silence. "Mr. Potter," he nodded at him, only to immediately find himself at wand point by Lupin and Tonks.

Harry could see the man clearly now, once he had stepped directly under the lantern. He was extremely fat, with great pouches hanging from his cheeks. He was nearly bald, the few wisps of hair he had, he had combed back carefully, unsuccessfully trying to hide his baldness. The eyes fascinated him, dark, beady, _shrewd_ eyes, fixed on him calculatingly.

Suddenly, the man realized that he was being held at wand point and scowled at Lupin and Tonks. "It's only a letter," he snapped at them, "with an Identification charm. Check if you like." He nodded towards the envelope.

"Be careful, Harry. It might be cursed," Tonks warned, keeping her wand and her eyes fixed on the man. Surprisingly, he only snorted, "Unless Mr. Potter is daft enough to send _himself_ a cursed letter, I believe there is no cause for concern."

_Himself? What was going on?_

The man casually knelt down to a shelf below the counter, and emerged with a silver goblet in his hand and set it down carefully. "It was ready six months ago," he told Harry, confusing him even more.

He looked at the envelope, which was addressed 'Harry Potter' in a very familiar handwriting… his own. Lupin warned him sharply, "Don't open it!"

Harry looked at him, "If this were cursed, I think it would probably have happened by now, don't you?" Not waiting for a reply, he tore open the envelope and opened the folded parchment inside. It was a letter, and was clearly written very hurriedly.

_The apothecary owner is Dimitri Mendel. I asked him to prepare an Athletos potion, you will need it after Azkaban. He is trustworthy and an excellent potion master, he prepared the Occulus potion perfectly, it cured my sight. He will not have any objection to drinking a little of the potion to prove that it is not poisonous. It is paid for._

_Harry Potter_

_PS: You would have had a vision of Albus Dumbledore the first time you looked at the sun after Azkaban._

Harry knew that the last bit was for confirming that the letter was genuine. No one else knew about the vision after all. But… the Athletos potion? Harry wrinkled his eyebrows, a memory of his reading a Potions text came to him. The Athletos potion was an illegal potion, mainly because of it's ingredients, which included powdered Manticore claws and a droplet of Griffin blood, both classified as Class A Non-tradable goods. Upon ingestion, the drinker's body would change, become healthier and more wiry. Earliest use of the potion was recorded by one of the ancient Greek wizards, who used it as a shortcut to prepare for the Olympic Games…

But what surprised Harry most was the extent to which he had been _prepared _for his incarceration. He had the foresight to get Mendel to prepare the potion, knowing that his body wouldn't be in the best of conditions after Azkaban. He also had the foresight to keep his memories in the safest place possible.

He sucked his breath in sharply suddenly, rereading the last line of the letter. The visions… he had planned those as well. The one about Dumbledore was triggered by looking at the sun apparently, and thinking quickly about the other visions, Harry found that they were triggered similarly, as when he had seen a Pensieve, or when his mind was invaded…

"Your letter was rather vague, Mr. Potter. You did not say when you would come for the potion… but," glancing over Harry's thin frame with cunning black eyes, "There's no denying you do need it. Your body will take a few hours to get adjust itself fully. Expect to feel extremely fatigued when new… effects happen," Mendel continued, oblivious to the confused glances between the rest of them. "What _is_ that?" Hermione asked finally.

Mendel fell silent, but Harry replied, peering down at the goblet, "It's the Athletos potion." The potion was dark grey in colour and had a fresh fruity smell to it. 'Perfect,' he thought to himself.

"But… but that's illegal," Hermione exclaimed, looking at him worriedly. Tonks started violently, "If that's true, you're in big trouble mister!"

Mendel smiled slightly, his huge cheeks seeming to swell further, "I daresay that wouldn't happen. Not unless you want to get Mr. Potter in trouble too."

Tonks spluttered incoherently, but Lupin interjected quietly, "It is not safe, Harry."

"Mr. Mendel," he spoke, glancing down at the letter to make sure he had the name right. "You will need to test it of course."

"Of course," the shopkeeper nodded politely. He dipped a silver spoon in the potion, stirred it gently, and drank a spoonful. Harry nodded, satisfied.

Lupin wouldn't give up so easily, "Harry, I'm sure that if you told Dumbledore, he would get it prepared for you…"

"By Professor Snape," Harry finished for him. "Somehow I think this will be safer…" Not waiting to hear any more arguments, he quickly downed the potion. It felt warm, the taste was rather like a mug of hot chocolate.

No one said anything after that. Tonks looked helplessly at Lupin, but he didn't say anything more. They waited for a while anxiously to see if there were any side effects. They left after Harry said he felt fine, Tonks giving Mendel a futile glare as they exited the shop. Harry smiled and nodded his thanks.

The warm feeling had spread throughout his body now, right to the ends of his fingers and toes, he knew that it was the potion working and smiled slightly. _No more huffing and puffing after climbing the stairs too quickly!_

They entered Florean Fortescue's Ice-cream parlour, walking in a single file to avoid a large puddle of water just outside the entrance. Little did Harry know that the puddle would save his life later that day.

They had just taken seats when they heard the faint popping sounds outside. Simultaneously, a few other things happened.

Harry felt a prickling at the back of his neck, which indicated that powerful wards had been cast on the area. Lupin and Tonks sprang up, wands in their hands. A woman screamed… which was quickly followed by shouts and cries. Looking out, Harry could make out dark-cloaked figures, and flashes of light, caused by spells being cast.

_Death Eaters…_

"All right, time for you to leave," Lupin said in a calm voice. Only the tenseness of his body and the look in his eyes gave away his feelings. Harry opened his mouth to object… he wanted to stay to help Lupin and Tonks, but Neville cried, "Activate!"

The ring he was wearing, or rather, the Portkey… vibrated slightly. Harry braced himself for the swirl of colours indicating Portkey travel and waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

Harry guessed that this was due to the wards that he had felt being laid on Diagon Alley. As Lupin and Tonks exchanged a worried look, Harry smiled grimly and took out his wand.

If there was going to be a fight… he'd sure as hell fight…

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

**A/N: **Next chapter is almost entirely devoted to action, Harry faces off against the Death Eaters…

I've received a few queries as to when he'll go the Chamber of Secrets and how long the story's going to stretch on. Can't say for certain, but only after he goes back to Hogwarts for his seventh year… won't be in the next few chapters atleast.

Something reassuring, just know I'm not going to leave bits and pieces hanging at the end, I know exactly how the plot is going to unfold, and I'll tie everything up in the end.

But I'd like to hear about the other ideas all of you might have about the whole unfair Azkaban imprisonment thing… anyway, here's a clue, it all comes down to the Cruciatus curse(s) Harry performed with his wand… if not on Malfoy then on whom? Guess away!

**And do take a look at my new story, 'Battle in the Past', it's of my favourite kind… a Harry-in-MWPP-era one. It'll be a lot different from the usual ones of that sort.**

shadylion


	10. First Blood

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me, it all belongs to J.K.Rowling, who, I'm glad to say, made a good job of the Half-Blood Prince…

Warning: This chapter contains a slight, very very minute trace of HBP, nothing plot revealing or anything… so go ahead and read, it wont spoil the book for you!

**Chapter 10**

**First Blood**

For a moment, they all stood there stupidly, wands drawn, standing around the small table outside the shop, while the not-so-light drizzle pattered against the umbrella above their heads. A woman's terrified scream quickly brought them to their senses.

"Right," Lupin began, looking as calm and unruffled as ever. "I don't know why the portkeys didn't work…" he trailed off as he shared a glance with Tonks and nodded grimly. "But all of you, get inside the parlour and _stay there._"

Despite their protests, the six of them found themselves ushered inside the building, where they gave a dreadful shock to old Fortescue, who was hidden under one of his tables. The sounds from the Alley were somewhat muffled now. Harry looked around. They were sort of safer where they were, he supposed… it was better than being out in the open at least. However, as he pressed his nose against the glass door, trying to catch a glimpse of Lupin and Tonks, who had ventured into the alley, he could see smoke spiraling from a few shops in the alley, they had apparently been set on fire…

He looked around at his friends, to see how they were reacting to the situation they found themselves in. Ron and Neville stood still, fear in their eyes, but with determination in their faces all the same. Hermione was comforting, or at least trying to comfort a visibly shaking Fortescue. Luna, he was glad to see, looked unusually alert, but Ginny… she had a hard blazing look on her face, as she looked through a window outside.

"See anything?" he called out to her. Ginny finally tore her eyes away from the scene outside and replied flatly, "Death Eaters, lots of them."

"Aurors?"

"The A-Auror he-headquarters is at the o-other end of the alley," squeaked out Fortesue, whimpering piteously, his white hair, which was neatly combed, was getting messier. _Well, they were on their own now…_

Still, despite the situation they were in, Harry found himself wondering why, what reason the Death Eaters could possibly have to destroy Diagon Alley. He realized he had spoken out loud when Ron asked puzzled, "What do you mean, why? These are Death Eaters, Harry, they…"

"Why would Voldemort attack a bustling market place? Many are going to die, many more will be thirsting for revenge afterwards… How on earth is this beneficial to him?"

There was silence in the room, it seemed no one could answer his question. "Never mind that for now," Ginny spoke in a voice of forced calm. "What do we do now?" she asked, looking at him directly.

Harry blinked, and looking around, he realized that everyone was staring at him. Expecting him to take the lead, issue orders… just as though he had always done so before?

Harry breathed out slowly, and forced himself to think rationally. "Right," he said, somewhat less nervous, "We should ward the doors and windows, I suppose, if the Death Eaters try to enter the building… Hang on," he added, struck by a brilliant thought, "Where's the fireplace?"

Fortescue shook his head mournfully, "The Ministry shut down all the private Floo systems in Diagon Alley…"

"Making this place a death trap," Harry finished, disgusted. "What were those…" He added an expletive that made Hermione say "Harry!" reprovingly. He smiled… typical Hermione, she was probably the only person in the world who would reprimand people for their language when their lives were in danger…

Fortescue looked up at him suddenly. _"Harry?"_ If Harry thought his voice couldn't get any squeakier, he was mistaken. "Harry _Potter?_" He was about to reply, when he was thrown off balance by the look in the old man's eyes. It was a mixture of incredulity, wonder and…_ hope?_ He finally found his voice. "Yeah, that's…"

He was interrupted by a loud scream outside, followed by a roar, _"NO!"_ _That was…_

"Lupin," Neville whispered, just as it hit him as well. In an instant, Harry had flung open the door, and was standing at the doorstep. Tonks was lying crumpled on the ground, some thirty feet away, a small pool of blood forming on the ground, the red colour growing fainter as the blood flowed into a small puddle, getting diluted. Lupin was standing over her protectively, spells streaming from his wand, taking on three Death Eaters at once.

Harry opened his mouth to shout a warning to Lupin, as a fourth Death Eater sneaked up behind him. It happened, just as Lupin felled one of the Death Eaters he was dueling with. A jet of red light struck Lupin on his back, and Lupin fell on to the ground, flailing his arms wildly, screaming, clearly in terrible pain.

_The Cruciatus Curse…_

_The one he had used on someone… the reason why he had been sent to Azkaban…_

NO! 'Now's not the time…' he told himself sternly. The Death Eater finally released Lupin from the spell, and was smiling at Lupin's attempts to stand up. Harry felt slightly sick.

"Out of the way!" snarled the one Lupin had felled barely a minute ago. He was on his feet, wand pointing at Lupin, and his face was twisted with anger. "Die, werewolf!" he hissed, his wand pointing straight at Lupin's heart. Before his lips could form the fatal words, however, Harry acted.

"_Accio Lupin,"_ he cried, brandishing his wand. The Death Eaters were momentarily stunned when Lupin zoomed off down the alley. "Trouble…" Harry thought to himself as they turned in confusion and spotted him at the doorway of Fortescue's Ice-cream Parlour. "Accio Tonks," he added for good measure, willing both of them to move faster.

It took about four seconds for Lupin and Tonks to fly across to Harry. With a flick of his wand, Harry sent them inside the shop, just as the Death Eaters recovered from their shock and sent spells flying at him. He stepped inside hurriedly and slammed the door shut. "Now," he cried, pointing his wand at the door.

"_Protego,"_ six voices roared. The door shuddered under the onslaught of the curses, but the Death Eaters' spells, most of them Reductors, dissipated on touching the conjured shield.

The shield would hold for sometime. He turned around, remembering that Tonks was injured, but he needn't have worried. Fortescue apparently had a first aid kit handy, and he was pouring a purple potion into the nasty wound in her head. Before his very eyes, Harry saw the blood stop gushing out, and the wound rapidly closed. Tonks slept on, her breathing regular now…

Lupin stood up, his relief evident in his eyes. Harry snapped his eyes back towards the door, a frown crossing his face. No attempts were being made to enter the building.

"What are they waiting for?" Harry asked Lupin.

"They don't know how many of us are holed up here. After all," he added with a small smile, "What you did was incredibly foolish…"

"But I couldn't just…" Harry protested, but stopped when Lupin held up his hand.

"Let me finish. What you did was incredibly foolish, but incredibly brave as well. And I'm grateful."

When Harry didn't respond, Lupin spoke again, "They probably think that there are quite a few fighters in here. Perhaps they even think this is a trap set by Aurors, I don't know… In any case, they won't do anything until they get reinforcements."

"That's a relief, that is" Fortescue snapped, waspishly. Harry could somewhat understand his feelings, it was his store after all, and he had been put in danger by those he had given shelter to.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Mr. Fortescue," Harry told him. "But I couldn't leave my friends out there to die. However, I shall take it upon myself to ensure your safety until this is over."

Fortescue's demeanor seemed to change in an instant. "Rubbish, dear boy! You can count on my help," he added, puffing out his chest proudly, "You can count on my help, that you can. Really, if we manage to live through this, it'll surely be a tale to tell my grandchildren, that it will!"

"Er… right," Harry didn't know what else to say.

"Harry, keep your hood up," Ginny warned, "If the Death Eaters see you…"

She didn't have to finish the sentence. Harry pulled the hood closer to himself and shivered.

They waited. There was nothing else to do, they couldn't leave the safety of the shop. Ginny wanted to take a peek out of the window, but Lupin wouldn't let her. There was absolute silence in the room, Tonks's heavy breathing was the only sound heard.

Harry fingered his wand impatiently. This waiting was the worst, he thought irritably, it was much easier to just get the whole thing over with. The Death Eaters certainly weren't taking them lightly, perhaps theirs was the only resistance they had encountered this side of the alley. The attack, when it came, would be well-planned and deadly…

His hands shook suddenly. _This wasn't nerves_, he thought, realization dawning… _The Athletos potion…Damn, damn, damn…_

The sudden spasm was succeeded by a flashes of pain in his elbow joints and knees. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to avoid thinking about the pain. He glanced around at the others, thankfully none of them seemed to have noticed…

He suddenly stiffened, _was that the scuff of a boot on the pavement outside?_ Suddenly he knew, as a sort of sixth sense, the battle was about to begin…

"_They're here!" _ he cried, just as they heard the bellow of a dozen voices, "REDUCTO!"

"_Protego!"_ they shouted, wands pointing at the door. But unexpectedly, a section of the wall crumbled… The Death Eaters weren't aiming at the door at all, they wanted to make the group inside as exposed as possible before engaging them…

_Damn, this was a good strategy,_ Harry thought, furious with himself for not thinking of this before. _Plus, they don't need to barge in through the door now, else we'd be able to pick them off one by one… _

He quickly sent a Stunner through the opening, hoping against hope that he would hit a negligent Death Eater, but there was no thud outside, signifying that he hadn't hit anyone after all…

"REDUCTO!" came the voices again, this time a different section of the wall crumbled in a cloud of dust. Harry tried to peer through the dust, but couldn't spot anyone… These people were good…

"Everyone, back up against the wall," Harry ordered, his voice crisp, surprising even himself. He didn't know he could sound so commanding… "We'll use the tables as a sort of barricade." It was precious little, he knew, but perhaps they could just hold out until the Aurors got here…

"But… we'll be cornered if they break in!" Neville protested.

"Where can we run now?" asked Harry grimly, "Besides, we'll have to defend from them only in one direction. If they manage to surround us, we're as good as dead…"

No one offered any more objections, not even Lupin, who should have technically been in charge. Which only led Harry to believe that what he'd suggested was the right thing.

Fortescue and Lupin carried Tonks over to the wall, while the rest of them levitated the tables and placed them in a wide circle surrounding them. Meanwhile, two more sections of the wall, as well as the door had been blasted open. It wouldn't be long now…

He joined the others, behind their rather weak barricade, and stood shoulder to shoulder with them, wishing that Tonks was up and about, instead of lying prone on the floor. They would need the skills of an Auror in a situation like this.

Even though, he needed to concentrate on the attack that was soon to come, he took a look around at those standing with him. Lupin, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny and Fortescue, all were with him, standing by him, ready to fight by him. Suddenly, despite the moment, he felt a surge of affection for all of them, even the wispy haired old man, who seemed to hero worship him so much… He met Ginny's eyes and smiled reassuringly, a smile which she returned. He turned back to face what he knew would come, but he was now filled with a new resolve, he would protect all of them…Whatever happened, not one of them was going to die today…

It happened suddenly, a barrage of spells came hurtling through the doorway, none of them seemed to be very powerful spells though, for they all dissipated against their collective shield. Which led Harry to believe that it was a ploy to distract their attention, while Death Eaters tried to force their entry.

A shadow at one of the openings in the wall led him to believe that he was correct. Lupin had noticed it as well, and both of them fired Stunners instantly. The shadow disappeared immediately, and two Death Eaters scrambled in through a third opening in the wall. Behind them, Harry could see a crowd of Death Eaters fighting to gain entrance.

_NO, they could not get in, he would not allow them to…_

"Incedio," Harry cried, causing a nearby table to burst into flames, and quickly Banished it at the two of them, who had their wands raised. Through the slits in their white masks, Harry could almost make out their eyes widen, as they dove out of the way. He caused the table to veer slightly and crash against the opening where the Death Eaters were crowding. They yelled as the burning table hurtled towards them, and an unfortunate Death Eater was struck full in the face by one of the table legs.

The two Death Eaters who managed to get inside the building were Stunned easily Harry summoned their masks, and looked to Lupin to see if he had recognized them. Lupin shook his head, and muttered "Newbies." It made sense, Harry thought, while Lupin bound them with conjured ropes, they would hardly send important people inside a suspected Auror stronghold. No, the big fishes were still outside, they would be the ones plotting the strategy, while the lower order Death Eaters carried out their orders. In any case, it looked like they had survived the first assault…

From outside, Harry could hear the sound of angry voices. He smiled, the Death Eaters had underestimated them and weren't too happy about it. Unfortunately though, when the next attack came, it would be delivered with a crushing force.

More sections of the wall collapsed in clouds of dust. The Death Eaters weren't showing themselves either. There were frequent spells being sent through the existent openings, but Harry was sure that they were merely to keep them busy and to prevent them from trying anything of their own. Worry became evident on Lupin's face finally, they wouldn't last long if they attacked now.

Soon enough, the entire wall crumbled. There was a sudden flurry of spells, they were hard pressed to defend themselves. Hermione gave a small cry, a Cutting Hex had got through her shield and there was a deep gash on her shoulder now, from which blood was dripping on the floor.

Harry knew he had to do something. Even some of the most complex shielding spells he knew wouldn't hold up against this barrage. If only he _knew_ what to do…

It suddenly hit him. Perhaps he did know what to do, he just had to do what he had done in his duel against Neville. He had to let instinct take over his actions. He remembered Hermione's words, his knowledge would come back to him in times of need. Well, if this wasn't a time of need, then he didn't know what was…

He tried to relax slightly, taking deep breaths and drooping his shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny look at him in concern, but he ignored it. He _had_ to protect his friends, but how?

Suddenly the knowledge came to him, it was a spell he had only read about in a book, which he had never tried before. He frowned slightly, recollecting the image, the pages were written in a language he had never seen before. For one thing, there didn't seem to be any words, the writing was continuous and consisted of little spikes in a somewhat horizontal line. However, he could understand the language perfectly.

He snapped his eyes open, and acted immediately.

"_Serpensortia,"_ he cried, concentrating hard on the kind of snake he wanted to conjure. The others watched on in a mixture of horror and incredulity, as a twenty foot long anaconda burst out from the end of his wand.

"Keep shielding," he cried to them, he needed a few moments to work the spell. The snake, meanwhile was rapidly uncoiling itself on the floor. Harry saw that it was a drab brown in colour, but met the snake's slitted eyes when it turned to him.

"_How may I be of service, master?"_ it hissed at him.

Harry began chanting in Parseltongue, he could not have chosen a better moment to begin the incantation, the Death Eaters had just entered the shop, and were staring at the huge snake with horror in their eyes. There were no spells cast by either side, all eyes were on Harry, watching in fascination. He didn't know why, he didn't know that he made an shadowy, chilling figure, with his face hooded and green eyes glowing faintly in the dark of the shop, chanting, no, almost _crooning _to a gigantic snake, sending shivers down everyone's spine.

"_Circle of death and life_

_Where everything comes back upon itself_

_Cycles that begin anew_

_As soon as they end…_

_And in this circle,_

_Forged by the bonds of friendship_

_We shall take shelter…"_

The snake had started moving before Harry had finished his incantation, it had slithered across the floor and formed a large circle around the nine of them, including the fallen Tonks, with it's diamond shaped head almost touching it's tail. It seemed to look at Harry, as though waiting for something else…

"_AEGIS!"_ he cried, pointing his wand at the snake's head. The anaconda's mouth slowly opened, the tail twitched slightly, and soon the tip of the tail was placed in it's mouth, which closed. Instantly, there was a bright flash of blue light, and a gigantic cylindrical shield, pale blue in colour shimmered into existence, with the snake's body as the circumference and extending till the heavens above…

There was complete silence in the room, the Death Eaters seemed mesmerized by the blue shield, which flickered lazily every few moments. Harry didn't know how long they would have stayed this way, but Tonks chose this moment to stir.

"Ugh… What is that taste in my mouth?" she asked no one in particular, standing up groggily. It was only then that she took note of the surroundings, and responded with an eloquent "Shit!"

The spell on the Death Eaters was broken. The next moment, a multitude of spells was sent at them. The others responded with different shielding charms, but Harry didn't move a muscle, he knew that it was unnecessary…

The spells struck the blue barrier, and then… nothing happened. There were red spots on the cylindrical shield where the spells had struck, but not one of them managed to get through. In fact, it looked as though the shield had absorbed the spells and had become stronger, for it's colour was a darker blue and it looked more solid now… With a jolt, Harry realized that it was true, for the Aegis Shield was a spell absorbing one and grew stronger with each spell cast at it…

It was hard to say which of the two sides was more shocked. The Death Eaters stood rooted to the spot, staring at the mysterious shield before them, while Harry could see that Ron's and Neville's eyes were nearly popping out of their heads…

One of the Death Eaters snarled in annoyance, and raised his wand again, but he quickly lowered it on hearing a commanding "Stop!" from behind him. Harry was startled, it was a woman's voice, somehow he had thought that Death Eaters were only men…

The two sides had their wands pointed at each other in an uneasy stalemate. Harry saw the woman who had spoken approach. "Well, if it isn't my Mudblood niece Nymphadora… and her werewolf boyfriend as well!"

Tonks rolled her eyes, Harry was glad to see that she wasn't intimidated at all. "It's a pleasure to see you too, Aunt Bella." Harry felt a vague sort of recognition on hearing her name. He peered at the woman closely, somehow feeling that he ought to know her…

'Aunt Bella' didn't pay any more attention to her niece, she turned her attention to Ron and Hermione. "You!" she spat at them, and then spotting Ginny, Neville and Luna, she added, "And you as well! Looks like we're only missing…"

Harry was puzzled, how did she know them? He then realized that the woman was staring at him, then her eyes flicked over to the snake, and she seemed to make some sort of connection. She removed her mask, Harry looked at her pale face, her heavy-lidded dark eyes, _she was so frustratingly familiar…_

"So," she said, a smile of unholy glee spreading across her face, "After months of searching, we finally find you here… practically delivering yourself to the Dark Lord's hands…"

She whipped out her wand with lightning speed. _"Avada Kedavra" _she screeched, her wand pointing straight at Harry. Green light erupted from her wand, and passed right through the shield, as though it weren't there. Harry's eyes widened, he had completely forgotten that there was no defence for the Killing curse, the Aegis Shield did have it's limitations after all…

He watched in fascination as the green light sped towards him. In the background he thought he heard a cry of _'NO!'…_ The curse had the exact colour of his eyes… _'Move!" _a voice rang in his head, _"Get the hell out of there!"_

Something told him to spin on the spot, which he did, for he had learnt to trust his instincts by now. He blinked, and the oddest sensation engulfed his body. He felt as though he was being squeezed into a narrow rubber tube, there was immense pressure on every inch of his body, he found it difficult to breathe. Suddenly, he felt a sort of resistance, blocking his path, but he batted it away impatiently…

Suddenly, he found himself able to breathe, he found himself on the other side of the room. Turning quickly, he saw the green light hit the spot where he had been moments before… The others looked at him with relieved expressions on their pale faces.

'Aunt Bella' turned to him with an incredulous expression on her face, her face twisting in anger and hate. She gave a mad cackle of laughter, as every Death Eater wand was pointed at him.

"_Ah, poor waby Potter, still playing the hero!"_ she said mockingly in a baby voice. Somehow, for some inexplicable reason, Harry felt a great rage pump through his veins on hearing the voice. Unbidden, a memory played itself out in his head.

_A dark haired wizard, once handsome, but whose face was now wasted away, was hit by a spell standing on a dais. The same insane cackle of laughter… it was clear who the perpetrator was… He fell, right through an ancient looking veil, from which vague whispers were coming… "SIRIUS!" he cried, as the man fell, a look of shock on his face…He did not reappear on the other side…_

Harry shook his head to clear it. So, this was how Sirius Black had met his end… At the hands of this insane woman in front of him, he remembered her name suddenly… _Bellatrix Lestrange…_

"Is that… Potter?" one of the Death Eaters asked, almost timidly, _fearfully?_

"He's just a boy!" Bellatrix snapped at him, "Kill him, and the Dark Lord will reward you with riches beyond your imagination…"

The woman was grinning at him, with a mad glint in her eyes… Something snapped in Harry.

"_SECTUMSEMPRA!"_ he cried, making a slashing movement with his wand. Bellatrix's eyes widened in surprise, as she reacted too late. Blood spurted from her face and chest, from deep gashes that seemed to be inflicted by an invisible sword.

Harry stared wide-eyed at her as she fell. One of the Death Eaters was galvanized into action, as he caught her before she hit the ground. "Kill them," she whispered, a whisper that was clearly heard in the silent room.

Both Bellatrix and the Death Eater in whose arms she lay limply, vanished, apparently by Portkey. Harry briefly wondered how the wards allowed them to leave, but his attention was soon caught by the Death Eaters whose wands were raised. There were fifteen or so Death Eaters in the room, more than half of them had their wands pointed at him, while the rest had theirs pointed at the eight people within the Aegis Shield.

His instincts kicked in again. Just as the fifteen Killing curses were fired, he Apparated again, this time _back_ into the Circle. _"Avis!" _he cried. A flock of birds emerged from his wand, right at the Death Eaters. Six of them caught fire, and fell burning to the ground when the green light hit them. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted with approval that Lupin and Tonks had conjured wooden boxes to block the curses, although they weren't needed anymore.

The Death Eaters' wands were raised again, blocking or dodging the spells that were fired at them. He made up his mind in a split second. They were outnumbered, and were going to get killed, as they didn't have as much room to move around in as the Death Eaters did, for they had to stay within the Circle. All of them would die, unless…

Harry Apparated to the doorway. "Hey!" he called out loudly, distracting the Death Eaters. There was a cry from within, he could tell it was from Ginny, when she realized what he had done.

Well, he had to do what he had to do… There was no other way his friends could escape unscathed…

Harry stepped out to Diagon Alley, into the pouring rain…

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**A/N:** Yo! Yes, I know it's been a looong time since I updated, and I do have lots of good excuses, which I'm sure you don't want to hear…

Anyway, about the status of the fic after the release of HBP, I'm leaning towards making it a summer fic… and maybe a sequel later if the response is good…

Okay, about Mendel… well, he's basically a sly, greedy merchant, who doesn't mind flouting the laws a bit if there's something in it for him and if there's no risk of him getting caught. There was a slight clue in the previous chapter, which one of my reviewers caught on to, (unintentionally, I think!)… Anyway, it's the powdered Basilisk fang that was on display. As Rachel Sedai rightly pointed it out, it's a pretty rare ingredient… Add to it the fact that Harry did _not_ see the Basilisk's corpse in his vision about the Chamber of Secrets, and you just might guess how Harry paid for his potions… and why Mendel made him an illegal potion, of course… I intended to bring it into the story later… but you might as well know now!

And the spell in the previous chapter, _Scaccus Deorc Incantatem_… it's basically Check Dark Incantation in a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Latin…

Okay, and the snake with the tail in it's mouth is called an Ouroboros, it's associated with many religions and has a fascinating history behind it… anyone interested may check out **http / www . crystalinks . com / ouroboros . html** after removing the spaces, of course…

**Fallen-Legacy88:** Those are good names, yeah… but they don't suit the fic, not the fic so far you understand, but rather how it's going to turn out… plus a few readers told me they actually liked the name and that I would confuse people if I changed it now… anyway, I appreciate it!

**Mafalda Prewett 613:** Sorry for the delay! 'Fraid it isn't Wormtail or Bellatrix, don't worry about it. All shall be revealed in due time!

**Zaminieinstein:** I think you're right too! Thanks a lot for the thought, we shall have a Harry-reflects scene soon!

**Rachel Sedai:** Of course it isn't Lestrange! That _would_ make it really stupid…

Right, so… I'm extremely pleased the way the chapter has turned out, it's my longest yet… so do review with your thoughts… I always appreciate feedback… even if it's just a couple of words…

Anyway… the next chapter's going to be action packed as well, it will be titled… **_AVADA KEDAVRA!_**

Until then, folks!

shadylion


	11. Avada Kedavra

**Chapter 11**

**Avada Kedavra**

Harry stepped out on to the deserted street. Squinting ahead through the rain, he could see dim flashes of light from up ahead, a battle was in progress. Perhaps this was where the Auror Headquarters was? He supposed he _could _go there and ask them for help… they couldn't very well refuse the great Harry Potter after all, but since he wanted the Death Eaters inside the shop to follow him outside, so he had to hang around a bit, to make sure they could see him.

He kept his hood up, and hurried down the alley past burning shops, avoiding the wreckage that was littering the street. He kept looking back occasionally to see if he was being followed, but there was no one behind. _What were the Death Eaters doing? Wasn't he the big fish, weren't they supposed to come after him?_

His heart clenched, what if they didn't come after him? Had he abandoned his friends? What if they thought he had fled, abandoning them, Apparating away to safety while they battled on? His ears burned at the thought.

Which led to another very interesting question, why didn't everyone Apparate away? Perhaps his friends couldn't, as they were under-aged, but he found it very hard to believe that old Fortescue didn't know how to Apparate. And there was the matter of the screams that he had heard, just when the Death Eaters began their attack. If the shoppers had known that their lives were in danger, why didn't they have the sense to escape while they could?

A vague idea emerged in his head, the more his logical side kept picking at it trying to find a flaw, the clearer the shape it took. Perhaps they _couldn't_ Apparate, perhaps the wards that were laid before the assault included anti-Apparation ones as well. He remembered the feeling he got when he Apparated, there was some sort of resistance blocking him, but he had batted it away without a thought… If this indeed was the case, how had he overcome the wards so easily?

Never mind that now… where the hell were those Death Eaters? He panicked suddenly, almost deciding to head back, when he saw signs of movement … _Ah, there they were…_ The first few Death Eaters snuck out of the now ruined ice-cream store, looking around warily for any sign of him. Finally!

On hindsight, it really hadn't been that long, perhaps just half a minute or so… but he had been so lost in his morbid thoughts that it seemed much longer. He smiled a little when one black clad figure jumped nervously when another tapped him on the shoulder. His smile dimmed when the other one raised a hand and pointed clearly at him. So, he had been seen… _Good._

He was about to turn away and head further down the alley, he would lead them on a merry dance, and then perhaps end up at the other end of Diagon Alley, from where faint sounds of battle still came… when he heard the unmistakable sounds of Apparation behind him. Without a thought, blindly trusting his instincts, he threw himself on to the hard ground in a roll.

He was just in time. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of light hitting the ground where he had been a second before. He came out of the roll, his wand at the ready pointing at the two Death Eaters who had hoped to catch him off guard. _"Stupefy! Stupefy!" _he cried. One went down, but the other managed to conjure up a shield just in time.

_Damn_, he thought bitterly, furious with himself. Of course the Death Eaters could Apparate, the one who had keyed the wards would have made sure of that. It was careless of him not to have thought of that sooner.

He heard two more telltale _pop_s behind him. Without turning around, he pointed his wand over his shoulder and shouted _"Impedimenta!"_ It seemed to have worked, as he heard no spells being cast behind him. The spell wouldn't hold for long, so he decided to escape while he could, before more Death Eaters came. Discretion was the better part of valour after all… Falstaff had certainly got that one right…

He spun on the spot, concentrating hard on where he wanted to go. Madam Malkins' store seemed to be a good place… it was farther down the alley and out of sight from where they stood, so he would have a few minutes respite from the chase. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the Death Eaters fire a spell, but he refused to get himself distracted, he couldn't afford to end up splinching. Besides, it looked like the spell was going to miss…

He was partially right. The spell did miss him, but he felt it hit his cloak, which had billowed out as he turned on the spot. The next millisecond, Harry Potter Disapparated. After two seconds, the other Death Eaters were gone as well.

The chase had begun…

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Matthew Jugson was in a foul mood.

Born in one of the less influential, but nonetheless pureblood families, he had joined the Dark Lord's ranks immediately after leaving school. His dueling skills were better than average, so he had risen slowly, but steadily through the Death Eater ranks. After five years of loyal service, he was where he was now, the leader of a unit of sixteen Death Eaters, a team which was mainly used for assault operations.

Of course, the going hadn't always been smooth. There was the _thing_ that had happened a little more than a year ago, at the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. Mostly thanks to Lucius Malfoy and his thrice accursed son. They might have expected that Potter would have some company, he supposed, but never in their wildest dreams had they expected any kind of resistance. Which was partly due to dear Draco's assurances that Potter was no great shakes at magic and that his friends were no better. Damn the Malfoys with their swollen egos, the younger one must have had one the size of an Erumpent, to even consider giving an inaccurate report of Potter's abilities to the Dark Lord…

He still shuddered when he recollected the Dark Lord's rage afterwards. Not one of the Death Eaters who had been part of the ambush group had escaped unscathed from his wrath. Bellatrix Lestrange had come in for particularly severe treatment, something to do with the prophecy, he supposed, but had never dared to ask. He still wondered how she managed to remain sane after those extended bouts of the Cruciatus curse.

Perhaps she wasn't sane, perhaps her brain had become permanently addled after her stay at Azkaban… Her behaviour at certain times certainly gave this idea some merit…

Like what she had managed to do today…

Jugson's group was given orders to attack Diagon Alley, cause enough ruckus to bring a squad of Aurors hurrying to the scene, and engage them for some unspecified time until the retreat signal was given. In other words, they were to cause a distraction and keep the Aurors busy, while the Dark Lord pursued his plans elsewhere…

All in all, it was a pretty tame mission, there were four other teams apart from his who had been given similar orders, which came up to eighty Death Eaters. The Aurors would no doubt be at less than their full strength, thanks to whatever the Dark Lord had planned. And his commander had strongly hinted that they would have reinforcements of some sort… He just hoped they weren't vampires. The Dark Lord had managed to conclude some sort of alliance with them, and a few of them had visited their headquarters. They were undoubtedly creepy, with their pale faces, blackened lips and yellowish slit-like eyes, like those of a cat. He knew they were valuable allies, but that didn't mean he had to _like_ them…

All was fine, until half an hour before their scheduled departure, Bellatrix Lestrange had sprung a small surprise. She had managed to get herself appointed as an observer for their group, presumably to oversee the entire operation. Personally, Jugson was sure that she was loath to pass up this opportunity to hex and torture a few people… She _was _a powerful witch and a valuable addition to their team, but an observer's orders could supersede his own, and he really didn't fancy being under the command of a nutcase like her…

Matters grew worse after they began their attack, in the form of unexpected resistance from one Nymphadora Tonks and from Remus Lupin, the werewolf, whom he knew from school. They had been subdued quickly enough, but then a mysterious cloaked figure from a shop entrance thirty feet away intervened before they could be killed. At the sight of the man, somehow he knew it was a man… warning bells went off in Jugson's head. Which was why, after Bellatrix, in her infinite wisdom, advocated storming the place regardless of the number of Aurors holed up inside, he objected strongly. In the end, he had his way, although she wasn't happy. He wanted to send for reinforcements, but his observer would have none of that.

His forebodings grew stronger after their first assault failed spectacularly. Not only did they lose two men, but they still had no idea of how many they were up against. They managed to get in the next time, but the first sight that met his eyes was the same hooded figure, eyes shining eerily in the darkness of the shop, crooning softly to a gigantic snake curled up on the ground. Jugson hated snakes, he avoided going near his master's pet whenever he could. Just as he was fighting the urge to run, something happened… a giant blue shield, the likes of which he had never seen before, materialized. There was precious little anyone knew about Parselmagic, he knew, which made it all the more dangerous.

And there was Harry Potter. There were so many ridiculous rumours regarding the Boy-Who-Lived-A-Charmed-Life that he had lost count. In any case, atleast one of them was true after all… he _was_ a Parselmouth. The Death Eaters did not know what to make of Potter, who had escaped their master so many times, so consequently, his name had a vague sort of glamour attached to it. Some thought he was incredibly lucky, and that his luck would run out sooner or later, while others feared him, believing him to have extraordinary powers.

And then was the fact that Potter had disappeared for eight months, but he didn't seem to have wasted any of the time. Jugson hadn't even heard of the spell he had used on Bellatrix, but it did seem to be among the most arcane and Dark curses ever crafted. Add to it the fact that he was able to Apparate despite the wards that were laid down by Rookwood, and Harry Potter became a demigod in the eyes of the Death Eaters…

So, when Harry Potter made a graceful exit from the battle scene, forcing the Death Eaters to decide whether to go after him, or to finish the battle they would surely win… it was up to Jugson to make that decision. There wasn't much of a decision to be made really, it was obvious that they had to go after Potter, but it would come at a cost of a certain victory… and it wasn't certain that they would catch Potter either, what with his newfound skills and his ability to Apparate…

So, as mentioned before, Matthew Jugson was in a foul mood…

_Well, _he thought irritably, _Best to cut one's losses…_

He raised his wand and a series of loud bangs echoed through the ruined room. The Death Eaters stopped firing spells, and eyed their opponents warily. He met Lupin's eyes and spoke, "We'll finish this later, werewolf! Next time you won't be so lucky…"

"NO!" the red haired girl shouted, but Lupin silenced her with a look. She began to argue with him heatedly, and despite himself, Jugson took a good look at the people Potter was trying to save, perhaps with his own life in exchange. He had never understood this hero complex some people had, he had openly scoffed at the Dark Lord's plan, not at his face of course, of luring Potter into the Department of Mysteries by using Black as bait. But still, Potter had come…

His second in command, Kirsten sidled up to him and spoke in a whisper, "Is it really wise to go after Potter, Jugson? We mightn't catch him…"

Jugson stared at him and spoke forcefully, "If the Dark Lord knew that we let Potter slip through our hands, do you know what will happen?" _He knew from experience…_

Kirsten lowered his head and muttered, almost inaudibly, "He needn't know…"

Jugson craned forward until their faces were almost touching. When he spoke, his voice was a low hiss, _"Do you really think you can lie to the Dark Lord and get away with it, Kirsten?"_ His second in command said nothing. Jugson spoke again, a little louder, "I will pretend I didn't hear that. Come, we have wasted enough time already!" As they left the shop, he heard someone mutter, "I really don't like this…"

Jugson agreed wholeheartedly…

He stepped outside, pulling his cloak closer to his body. It was raining heavier now, and air had turned chilly. His eyes swept the street and he saw Potter almost immediately, a lone figure standing further up the alley. He nearly groaned out loud when one of his men tapped another on the shoulder and pointed openly at Potter. _So much for surprising him… Blasted amateurs… _He'd have a word with them after this was over…

After a quick nod with Kirsten, both of them Disapparated, right behind Potter. But again, he was unpleasantly surprised by the speed of Potter's reflexes. Their spells had hardly hit the ground when Potter had dodged and sent back a couple of curses. His hastily made shield was just able to counter the curse, while Kirsten hadn't been fast enough…

More of his men popped in. Potter managed to freeze them in place, and began to turn on the spot, evidently preparing to Disapparate. _"Sequor"_ he muttered desperately, aiming for the cloak, hoping that Potter wouldn't try to dodge it. It worked… Potter vanished almost instantly, but he now knew where he was…

The _Sequor _spell was a tracking spell, which had widespread use among safety personnel. The spell was placed on the person they were guarding, so that the caster always knew where his charge was at any time…

While someone Enervated Kirsten, Jugson closed his eyes, Potter hadn't gone too far, but where? He snapped his eyes open after a few seconds, "Up ahead… a hundred feet or so… _Move!_"

Potter was kneeling on the ground outside the robes shop, was he hurt perhaps? His eyes widened as he saw them, menacing dark robed figures surrounding him. He obviously didn't expect them to catch up so soon, Jugson felt a vague sort of satisfaction… his hopes that Potter was hurt diminished quickly as Potter rolled aside nimbly to avoid the green jets of light flying towards him. And… vanished.

Jugson ground his teeth in frustration. This could go on for a _very_ long time…

And so it did. In the few seconds that they needed to pinpoint his location, Potter would disappear again. Sometimes they would be lucky enough to glimpse the edge of his robes whipping around, but never did they get a chance to hex him. And worse, while Potter kept well away from the ice-cream store, his movements were random and it was impossible to predict where he was going next. Jugson felt like tearing out his hair and screaming aloud in frustration, but he had no choice… he had to go on…

It ended rather suddenly. They found themselves outside the apothecary this time. Potter was staring down at a body lying on the ground. He almost didn't seem to notice them arrive, and was undoubtedly saved by the fact that his pursuers didn't expect him to be there either. The precious few seconds that the Death Eaters needed to compose themselves however, was enough. Jugson was startled by the boy's expression, his face was twisted in murderous rage. For a second, he thought Potter was going to stay and fight, but he Disapparated just as the hexes aimed at him struck the corpse, flipping it over. Jugson risked a quick glance at the body, who was it whose death had affected Potter so much? He half thought it would be Lupin or one of his friends, but to his great surprise, it turned out to be some fat old man he didn't know…

Jugson concentrated for a bit, and opened his eyes wide in surprise. Potter was at the ice-cream store again, just outside though… why had he gone back there? Had he decided that he wanted to join his friends again to fight with them? "Fortescue's," he told his men briefly. Some of them hesitated perceptibly before Disapparating, for they too had seen the wrathful look on Potter's face.

The Death Eaters landed with a splash, they had ended up in a great puddle of water outside Fortescue's shop. They looked around wildly for any sign, before spotting him. Potter was hovering around six feet up, he had evidently levitated himself… but why? He had his wand pointed, and screamed out, _"Rayden Electra!"_ Jugson almost heaved a sigh of relief, the jagged vivid blue flash of lightning that emerged from Potter's wand was going to miss all of them… but warning bells in his head rang, as he saw Potter's face bear a satisfied smirk.

There was nothing he could do however… it was too late.

As the powerful bolt of electricity struck the water, Jugson felt a great jolt in his body, from legs down. His body jumped up of it's own accord and he felt the hair on his body and head stand on end. An odour of singed flesh filled his nostrils. _What kind of sorcery was this? The spell hadn't hit him, why was he affected?_ His mind was still screaming for answers when he knew no more…

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Harry watched in grim satisfaction, as the last of the Death Eaters toppled over and lay still. _Stupid purebloods… even a Muggle child knew that water conducted electricity… Really, for all the fuss they made about the purity of blood, one would expect something much better from them… _By the looks of it, they had suffered second degree burns, but they would survive. Far more than they deserved anyway, he thought, as he gazed around. The rain was falling heavier, dark clouds were gathered in the skies, visibility was rather poor. His hood had come off with all the Apparating he'd done, and his long wet hair was stuck to his scalp. Some of it got in his eyes, and he shook it away impatiently. _Perhaps he should have let Mrs. Weasley cut it back at Grimmauld Place…_His eyes fell upon the ruined exterior of Fortescue's store interrupting his train of thought, and he hurried towards it.

His joints were screaming in protest with every movement he made, and worse, he felt a burning sensation in the muscles of his arms and legs. He had been putting up with the pain for a while, but the Athletos potion was really starting to take effect now. Without it, he doubted if he would have been able to dodge those curses and survive until now. He could practically _feel_ his muscles stretching as his body grew more flexible… moving his elbow and knee joints seemed much easier, just as though someone had oiled it…

He burst into the room through a hole in the wall, looking around, hoping to see everyone safe and sound…

It was empty.

He stood there for nearly a minute, in silence, before scurrying about, looking around for some sign of what had happened. The snake was gone, Harry wasn't really surprised, a conjured snake, especially one that size, couldn't last for very long… There were numerous scorch marks on the floor and what was left of the walls, mute evidence to the battle that had occurred perhaps five minutes before. On the positive side, there was no sign of any blood, so _maybe_ they were all safe, perhaps just hiding out somewhere else, in case the Death Eaters decided to return…

He made his way outside slowly, there didn't seem to be any immediate danger, so he could afford to relax a bit. He winced slightly, the pain accompanying the potion _was_ pretty intense, Mendel hadn't been exaggerating…

A lump formed in his throat as he recollected the prone body lying outside the apothecary. Even though Mendel had been nothing more than a greedy merchant and certainly not a friend… despite the fact that he was on Harry's side just as long as he was well paid for it, willing to overlook a few laws if there was something in it for him, the fact remained that he _had_ been one of the few people that he, Harry, seemed to have _trusted_. Trusted enough to keep his mouth shut and get the job done anyway… Murdered outside his own shop, with his face in the mud while the rain soaked his clothes… this was hardly a death anyone would want…

Lupin and the others could be anywhere now, he realized, so he might as well spend the next few minutes paying his last respects to a man he knew only briefly…

Harry Apparated back to the apothecary. Someone had turned the body over, Mendel was lying on his back, his dark beady eyes wide open, gazing on to the heavens above. Under different circumstances, Harry might have laughed, Mendel looked quite comical, his mouth slightly open, his chubby cheeks drooping down, he looked every bit like a rather surprised frog. As it was, Harry did not even remotely find it funny…

With a sigh, Harry closed the dead man's eyes. _No need to leave him out in the rain_, he thought, muttering, _"Mobilicorpus." _Mendel's body rose, and floated beside Harry as though on an invisible stretcher. As he levitated the corpse away, something caught his eye. A medium sized black box was lying on the ground, slightly flattened due to the heavy weight that was lying on it until a few moments ago. Harry carefully guided the body inside the store, which was largely intact. A few bottles had fallen off the shelf, shattering on the floor, forming a strange greenish-blue mixture. As Harry placed Mendel on his counter, he noticed that a number of bottles seemed missing

He went out and picked up the black box and brought it back in. It was probably Mendel's property, he opened it just to make sure. Inside were hundreds of tiny bottles, it was a moment before Harry realized that Mendel had shrunk as many of his more valuable ingredients as he could find, and had probably been carrying it away in search of a safer spot, when he had been killed.

A particular item caught Harry's gaze, it looked like a very tiny grey tooth. He took it out carefully and enlarged it. The tooth swelled up until it was nearly eight inches long, and Harry was able to clearly see what it was… an Erumpent horn. He had read about it in _'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," _he remembered. They were filled with a kind of fluid that leaked out when the horn pierced something, and exploded… completely destroying whatever the horn had pierced…

_It certainly would come in useful now_, he thought wistfully, placing it back in the box. Stealing from the dead didn't appeal to him, however… but perhaps he could buy it from him? He had no idea how much Mendel would have charged for such a purchase… it certainly was illegal in any case… He shrunk the horn again and carefully placed it in the inside pocket of his robes, vowing to pay an appropriate sum of money to Mendel's next of kin…

He hurried out of the shop, his duty done. He paused on the street, wondering where to go. Perhaps his friends had gone to the Aurors to ask for help, just as he had thought of going? If he had learnt anything about them after a week of knowing them, it was that they would probably be searching for him this instant.

Well, he supposed he'd better set off. _Best not to Apparate right in the midst of the Aurors, _he thought, lest they thought he was a Death Eater, from his cloak and from the mere fact that he could Apparate. He ended up at a place further up the alley, where the sounds of battle weren't just faint cries anymore…

He noticed that the damage was much more substantial here. Broken glass littered the street, and some shops were still burning, despite the heavy rain. He saw no one, and thankfully, no corpses as well, and if anyone saw him, they didn't call out…

Sticking close to the line of shops, he crept further closer to the battle, which he saw, was taking place just outside Gringotts. He could make out Kinsgley's tall heavyset figure, dressed in blue robes, engaged in a duel with two Death Eaters simultaneously. From the looks of it, the numbers of the Aurors and the Death Eaters seemed about the same, and the Death Eaters were definitely the worse off. Then, something happened that made both sides stop fighting…

The sky grew darker still, and there was a thin white mist beginning to form. All sounds ceased suddenly. Harry peered ahead impatiently, cursing the visibility, _what was going on?_ He started to hurry forward towards where he saw Kingsley last, it was best to make a move when there was no fighting going on…

He was halfway there when he heard it… a very familiar sound. A deep rattling breath which seemed to suck more than the air in… one of the few sounds he heard while in Azkaban. Through the darkness, he could vaguely see a few tall, cloaked figures…

_Dementors…_

There was a weird sort of ringing sound in his head… It was funny, if he concentrated _really_ hard, he could almost hear a woman's screams, which seemed rather muffled and far away... Had it always been like this? Harry supposed so… he had always thought he could hear screams from fellow prisoners, but perhaps they were due to the proximity of the Dementors?

_Why did everybody stop fighting? So what if these creatures made the surroundings dark and cold? It wasn't pleasant, but it certainly was tolerable… Why did everyone seem to fear Dementors so much?_

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM,"_ a voice bellowed, Harry recognized this to be Moody's. A silver light glowed suddenly, a beacon of hope in the enveloping darkness… Harry could vaguely make out the shape of a dog of some sort. But unbelievably, the dog drove the Dementors away! More shouts of _"Expecto Patronum" _were heard, and in the sudden light, Harry could make out the dark shapes of Dementors. They seemed to be emerging from some black hole, which a Death Eater seemed to carry high above his head. _A portal…_ Harry guessed, _had they managed to open a portal from Azkaban to Diagon Alley? _Other Death Eaters were surrounding the portal carrier in a defensive formation, there was one group just in front of him, with a yellowish shield around them, their aim clearly being to prevent any attack on the man… _The portal was to remain open…_

The Dementors seemed to keep well away from the Death Eaters, they swooped down on the Aurors, but were driven away by the Patroni. The silver animals didn't last long, though… and for every Dementor driven away, two more seemed to take it's place. The Aurors were quickly being worn down, Harry realized, they would soon be defeated at this rate…

He managed to reach Kingsley and tapped the broad Auror on his shoulder, only to find a wand at his face. "_Harry!"_ Kingsley asked incredulously, as he lowered his hood, "What are you doing here? Where are Lupin and the others?"

"I was hoping they would be here… We got separated, it's a long story."

"We have no time for this. You should leave now, things are looking bad…"

"Listen, Kingsley," Harry spoke urgently, "There's no use casting one Patronus after another, you need to shut down that portal…"

Kingsley gave a bitter laugh. "Think we don't know that? See them?" He pointed at the group Harry had noticed before, the ones surrounded by the yellow shield. "That's a runic shield. We can't get through them…"

Harry observed the group in silence for a while. There was a ring of eight Death Eaters, each facing in a different direction. In the middle was the ninth one, the rune magician. He was continuously chanting, his wand above his head, occasionally tapping one of the many strangely shaped runes floating above his head. It was obviously he who was keeping the shield up… As he watched, a number of spells hit the shield, only to be deflected away. _Why didn't the Aurors try something stronger?_

Just as the thought entered his head, a familiar jet of green light flew towards the shield, and hit a conjured brick head on, shattering it to pieces. So, the eight other Death Eaters were there only to protect the rune magician from the few spells that _could _get through the shield… Harry noticed that none of the pieces hit any of the Death Eaters, so the shield seemed to be for physical objects as well. Harry was impressed… it was a powerful bit of magic. He looked closely at the shield for a flaw, but could see no weak points. It was very similar to the one he had conjured using Parselmagic, cylindrical and tall…

"Maybe…" he said slowly, almost to himself, "Maybe… from above… yes, it might work…"

"What? What'll work?" Kingsley asked eagerly. Harry turned to him with a smile. "This," he said, and vanished with a _pop_.

Harry reappeared, ten feet _above_ the circle of Death Eaters. _"Stupefy,"_ he cried, his wand pointing straight down. The rune magician looked up in surprise, he had no time to even flinch as the red light of the Stunner hit him directly on the face. Simultaneously, several things happened…

The yellow shield flickered once… and died. Harry landed on one knee, right on the fallen Death Eater's chest. As though in slow motion, Harry could see the other eight Death Eaters whirl around when they saw the shield gone, wands pointed at him. Just as he saw the fatal words starting to form on their lips, he knew he was in trouble. He didn't have time to get up, so he couldn't Apparate away.

Suddenly, something clicked in his head… there was something he _could _do…

"_Fuujin Tempesta,"_ he cried, his wand pointing straight up at the sky. The effects were instantaneous. His hair began to rise up like a wave and started to sway wildly, as a sudden wind whipped up. The next second, there was a small whirlwind, with Harry at the center. The Death Eaters were swept off their feet and into the air as the wind picked up, as though they weighed nothing more than a piece of paper… but since Harry was in the eye of the storm, so to speak, he was buffeted in all directions by the wind. So consequently nothing happened to him, he emerged when the winds died down looking very windswept, but overall unscathed…

Some of the Death Eaters had managed to complete the words, and the deadly jets of light few wildly around, but thankfully most of them seemed to be heading for the stars, unless some unfortunate bird got in their way…

Harry looked up as the dark shapes of Kingsley and Moody hurried over to him. "That was the most _reckless_ thing I have ever seen. NEVER do it again!" Kingsley bellowed at him. Moody simply looked hard at Harry and said gruffly, "Good thinking there Potter! But the next time you…"

Kingsley continued, "How is it you are able to Ap…"

"_HARRY!"_ Harry jumped, and turned around looking for the source of the voice in the foggy surroundings. The next moment he found himself surrounded by his friends… Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna congregated around him, all chattering at once. Lupin and Tonks were exchanging quick words with Kingsley and Moody. Even old Fortescue was there… beaming along happily.

"Thank _Merlin _you're safe!"

"Where were you?"

"What happened to the Death Eaters?"

"Where are the Dementors coming from?"

Harry suddenly noticed that Ginny was looking dreadfully pale. Ron was holding Ginny rather tightly, and when she spoke, it was a little more than a whisper, "Harry…"

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Never do that again, all right?"

He knew they would be angry with him for running off like that, playing the hero, so he had prepared some excuses like he never really had been in any danger, since he could Apparate, and that it was a necessary thing to do… Looking at Ginny's worried face however, all those excuses vanished from his head, so he simply nodded his head, saying "All right…"

"_INCOMING!"_ somebody yelled. Harry turned around, the Aurors were still casting Patroni, but he could see that they were in trouble, many of them were sweating profusely, and a few had given up. Looking at the portal, Harry was dismayed to see that it had widened considerably, and Dementors were swarming in like locusts.

"_Ginny!"_ Ron was holding her tightly, her legs had given way, her eyes had rolled back in her head, and she was shaking violently. "No…" she whimpered piteously, "No, Tom, don't make me do it… _Please!"_

With a last shudder Ginny fainted. Harry looked around in alarm, there were more than a hundred Dementors congregated around, swooping around like oversized bats. It grew steadily darker as Aurors found it more and more difficult to cast the Patronus charm. Soon, it was pitch black, and he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He heard someone collapse next to him. "Ron? Hermione?" he called out in alarm, and was panic-stricken when he heard no reply. "Neville! Luna! Where are you? _WHERE IS EVERYONE?_"

There was no sound… except for the rattling breathing by a hundred Dementors. Harry had never felt so lonely before in his life… not even in Azkaban. _This was stupid, _he thought suddenly. _"Lumos!"_ the wand light flickered on briefly and was extinguished almost immediately… _what was it with Dementors and darkness anyway?_ In the fleeting light however, he saw that the others had collapsed as well. He knelt down and felt around until he touched someone's face. The breathing was in short gasps, as though the person was suffering some horrible nightmare…

Harry suddenly let out a cry and fell to his knees. There was this awful feeling in his bones as the potion continued to work it's magic, he was sure they were stretching slightly. He wanted nothing more than to just lie down and sleep, to forget about the pain… but he knew he couldn't. For some strange reason, he was the only one able to think and walk, he couldn't just let everybody down.

Harry forced himself to think rationally. He staggered to his feet unsteadily. _Light, _he wanted light… he needed hope…

He remembered suddenly, how he had thought of the Patronus as a beacon of hope in the darkness. A spell which provides both, he realized. Should he try to perform the charm then?

_Suddenly, a memory arose in his head, emerging from the dark abyss where he was forbidden to enter…He was standing in a classroom, it was late evening, the sun's slanting rays fell across the room, giving a strange golden hue to the desks and floor. With a start, he realized that Lupin was speaking, "You need to think of something happy, Harry. The happier the thought, the stronger is the Patronus produced…"_

So he needed to think of something happy… What was the best thing that could happen now? He smiled suddenly, he had just the thing… what he wanted most was for his friends to survive this… for them all to be together and happy…

"_Expecto Patronum!" _he cried, concentrating hard on the image of the six of them at Grimmauld Place, sitting around by the fire, playing a game of Exploding Snap. A brilliant white light emerged from the tip of his wand, he screwed up his eyes, the light was absolutely blinding after the darkness…

It was a stag, he saw… and the Dementors fell away from the path of the galloping stag, utterly vanquished. The stag galloped around in gradually larger circles around Harry, it seemed to last much longer than the other Patroni he had seen… In some cases it was just in time, some Dementors were holding the Aurors up and seemed to be peering into their faces, Harry had no idea what they were doing, but he was sure that it wouldn't be a good thing…

In the light, he saw the lone other figure standing… the Death Eater who was holding the portal open. An endless stream of Dementors was still pouring out. He was still conscious, for some strange reason, despite the proximity of the Dementors, _perhaps he shared Harry's immunity?_ He watched as Harry stumbled over towards him, and smirked, "On your last legs, Potter?"

Harry stared at the hidden face in front of him, the voice seemed familiar somehow. "Your name…" he said slowly, "is Avery…"

"Very good, Potter, you have a fine memory. In any case, it's over now. You've put up a good fight…"

Harry lost his temper suddenly. He had no time to be chatting with a filthy Death Eater now. His Patronus was still active, but it was doubtful for how long it would last… _"Enough,"_ he barked out. "Close the portal…"

The Death Eater smirked again. _What the hell was he thinking? _Both his hands were holding up the accursed portal, he couldn't even defend himself…

Harry moved a few steps forward, and stopped suddenly. He seemed to have encountered an invisible barrier of some sort. He moved back a few steps, it was to be expected, he supposed. They would hardly leave such an important person defenseless…

He sent a Stunner at Avery, but it rebounded off the strange invisible shield so rapidly that if it weren't for his newfound agility, he surely would have been hit. _"Rayden Electra!"_ he tried again, and was forced to duck again, as the jagged blue bolt of lightning bounced back. The shield seemed to take a vague shape now… it looked somewhat like the head of a giant dog… with glowing red eyes. The head snarled at him dauntingly. He started to lose hope again, and almost on cue, his Patronus started fading…. With renewed vigour, the Dementors redoubled their efforts, the stag was hard pressed to keep them at bay…

What was he to do now? The thrice damned Death Eater was openly laughing at his helplessness. He needed to close the portal somehow… then perhaps another Patronus would drive the remaining Dementors away… As long as those creatures from hell kept pouring in like that, he had no chance at all…

A dark voice seemed to whisper in his head… _There is a way…_

_No! There had to be something else he could do…_

_Bah, _the voice sneered,_ your friends are going to die… Didn't you swear to yourself that you would do everything in your power to save them?_

_Yes, but…_

_Then do it…_ the voiced hissed, and became silent.

Harry took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do. He _would_ save his friends… no matter what the cost. He smiled sadly at the Death Eater, and spoke softly, "Goodbye, Avery…" He pointed his wand at Avery's heart and screamed, all his rage bursting out… his hate for Voldemort and his Death Eaters… those monsters who had killed his parents… killed Sirius… and most _unforgivably, _were trying to kill his friends…

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

Harry watched in fascinated horror as the jet of bright green light burst forth from his wand and sped towards Avery, cutting through the shield as though it were butter… Avery's eyes widened in surprise, he certainly hadn't expected Harry to do that…

As the light struck him, Harry could feel the life rushing out of Avery… He felt a sudden rush of power… which sent the blood rushing into his head. However, this was quickly overwhelmed by the strange feeling he had… something inside him was ripping itself in two, and a part of him… a part of his very essence… sought to leave him forever. He fought hard to keep it in… it was the part of him that was disgusted by what he had done, that was trying to escape… He finally succeeded, but he was left feeling hollow inside except for some strong emotion that wasn't quite sadness, but probably came very close…

Harry watched as the dead man fell on to the ground. What he had done seemed to be an effective solution in any case, he thought dully, as the portal closed rapidly. A last Dementor tried to get through, but let out a terrible screech, as the portal closed around it, slicing it in two. Harry gazed at the black piece of cloth in interest… could Dementors possibly be killed this way?

To his surprise and alarm, the black cloak began to move… he thought it was the wind at first, but when it started to scuttle along the ground like a deadly shadow, his suspicions were confirmed. _A Lethifold?_ Was this how they were created in the first place?

The Lethifold crept out of sight when the stag vanished, causing the Dementors to come surging forth. If they were capable of giving vent to cries of joy, Harry was sure they would have. He sighed once… _he was so tired…_and cast the Patronus charm for what he hoped was the last time…

The stag emerged again, in all it's glory… Harry found that he could guide it with his thoughts. Naturally he motioned it over by the fallen bodies of his friends to make sure they were all right, but to his horror, he found that the Lethifold had wrapped itself around Ginny's face and seemed to be suffocating her… The deadly black shroud scuttled away just as the stag drew closer. Harry left it to it's own devices and hurried towards Ginny. He knelt down beside her, taking her head in his hands. _"Please, Ginny…please don't be dead…"_

She was still deathly pale, but seemed to be breathing normally now. The air grew slightly warmer as Harry felt a surge of hope, as the stag shone in the darkness magnificently… Slowly but steadily, the Dementors vanished and Prongs stood proudly in the battlefield… his job done.

The sun peeked out of the clouds, as the stag shimmered away into nothingness… Harry smiled, all was fine now. At last… he could rest.

When Albus Dumbledore accompanied by the rest of the Order popped into Diagon Alley a minute later expecting the worst, he was relieved beyond words to see Harry lying on the ground, his hand holding Ginny's… with a smile on his face and sleeping soundly…

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**A/N:** Howdy folks! Whew! Another very long chapter… (for me!)

To clear things up… Erumpents and Lethifolds are magical creatures, whose full descriptions are given in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them…_ Anyone interested may visit www . hp-lexicon . org to find out more… And as you can probably see… there's a lot of non-canon magic stuff here… this trend is likely to continue… so do keep an open mind!

For those interested… **_Sequor _ **is Latin for follow… And can anyone guess where I got the spells **_Rayden Electra_** and **_Fuujin Tempesta_** ? No latin in this one! Hint: Think video games!

**Megalamer:** I was slightly confused and a teensy bit worried after your review… but everything cleared up when I visited your profile! Are you a fan of Gundam Seed by any chance?

**Deepthoughtz:**Kamon aache! Good to see you too!

How was the whole Jugson PoV thing? I thought it would be fun to write things from the point of view of a Death Eater… and yeah, it was! Should this trend continue in future chapters? I'm sure many of you would love to read a Dumbledore PoV ! Tell me about it in your reviews… along with your thoughts about this action scene… whether it was too slow… or boring… whatever you thought about the chappie…

Next chapter onwards, the whole mystery starts to unfold itself (_slowly!_)… I think I've kept you guys guessing long enough!

T'sall… so long!

shadylion


	12. Aftermath

**Erm… You might want to read the first few chapters again, in case you've forgotten…**

**Chapter 12**

**Aftermath**

_It was a dark and stormy night. The house was situated at the very edge of a sheer cliff. It remained a dark shape to the eye easily mistaken as a part of the cliff, except when it was brilliantly illuminated by the flashes of occasional lightning. Dark and foreboding, it emanated a sense of menace and danger, only the reckless and foolhardy would venture near it. Not entirely dark really, there was one room from which a very faint light could be seen…_

_At first sight, the room was an ordinary one. Rather bare, a table and a few chairs… that was all the furniture there was. A couple of wide windows were set to the side. They were closed, but a few gusts of wind managed to enter the room, bringing inside the cold from outside. The only sounds that could be heard were that of waves crashing on the jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliff. Dark clouds were gathered in the sky outside… a storm was brewing. A rather ordinary room… one might even feel sorry for the unfortunate soul who had to stay in it during a storm…_

_Then again, a few things stood out. A magnificent throne sat majestically at the end of the room, right between the two windows. The only source of light came from a few flickering candles, illuminating the rather drab-looking paintings which hung on the walls, ones any art collector would gladly pay a fortune for. It was rather eerie, giant shadows formed on the walls, and disappeared just as quickly as they were formed. Due to the unique and no doubt well thought out position of the throne, it, and therefore the person sitting on it, could be seen clearly only the lightning flashed outside._

_Lord Voldemort was sitting on the throne, tapping the arm rest in an almost bored manner. His scarlet slit-like eyes however, were watching the two figures huddled on the floor before him with all the intensity of a snake about to attack it's prey. The two shivering figures seemed to sense the eyes that were boring into their heads, for they kept their heads well bowed._

"_Bella," he finally spoke in a low whisper, "Why don't you tell me what happened today?" _

_Bellatrix didn't look up, to her credit, her voice was steady, despite knowing what was to come. "My lord… he was there…" _

_Voldemort cut in smoothly, "I thought you knew better than to lie, Bella… the old fool was at Azkaban, we even had a little chat…"_

"_No, my lord," she took a deep breath, "Harry Potter was there…"_

_From her limited range of vision, she could make out that Voldemort had risen, and had walked slowly towards her. _

"_Rise," he hissed softly. Bellatrix stood up as slowly as she dared, wincing when the wounds on her chest flared in pain as the skin stretched. A long cold finger touched her chin, and forced her to look up, meeting her master's eyes. The merciless red eyes stared into her own, and there was a prickling sensation at the back of her head. Bellatrix automatically brought her Occlumency shields to bear, but Voldemort broke through them effortlessly. Scenes from the Diagon Alley attack flashed before her eyes, as Voldemort delved through her memories. He was not gentle, he ignored the flinches caused by her occasional pangs of discomfort. Finally, he let go._

"_So… you're back, Potter…" thought Voldemort, "Where were you, and where did you learn a dark curse like that, one that even I did not know? And why is it that I could not feel your presence for eight long months? What have you done to yourself, boy?"_

_He broke off his train of thought, as he contemplated the trembling woman before him. Oh yes, she would be punished, and she knew it as well…_

"_I see you enjoyed a few minutes of conversation with the boy, Bella… Why did you deem it necessary to talk to him, to rile him up? And why did you not come to me immediately upon my returning from Azkaban?"_

_The Death Eater who hadn't spoken so far stirred. "My lord…" he began._

"_I did not give you permission to speak, Dawson!" _

_Poor Dawson, Bellatrix thought sympathetically, he would pay for his insolence. She half hoped that he would continue to speak, perhaps then her punishment would be lessened, but Dawson remained silent, completely subdued._

_There was no use telling Voldemort that she was unconscious, and had woken up barely five minutes ago, he simply did not accept such excuses. Bellatrix settled for looking down at the floor silently. Voldemort appeared deep in thought. She fought the urge to fidget, this waiting was far worse than the actual punishment._

"_Hold out your arm, Bella." _

_Voldemort pressed one almost impossibly long finger at a particular location on her upper left arm. Bellatrix gritted her teeth, not wanting to cry out. In some corner of her mind, she wondered who was being summoned. She thought she knew the answer…_

_The pain stopped. Ironically, the punishment just beginning, for Voldemort had stepped back from her slightly. She didn't dare to look, but she knew that there would be a slightly mad look in her master's eyes… the look he always got at the prospect of torturing someone._

"_Potter practically delivered himself to your hands, for the SECOND time. And you let him go!" Bellatrix closed her eyes and braced herself._

"_CRUCIO!"_

Far away, halfway across Britain, Harry Potter woke up…

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Harry woke up with a start, sweat dripping off his forehead and his heart racing. He touched his scar lightly, it was stinging rather badly. He put his face in his hands, the visions still passing through his eyes, _He was Voldemort!_ Bellatrix Lestrange, he had been torturing her… The dream had been so _real_, and the truly scary part was that he was able to actually _hear_ the person's thoughts as they bounced around inside his head. It almost felt as though there was some sort of Legilimency at work. He had felt the man's reactions to the news that he had received, he had felt the enormous, just barely controlled rage at the sound of the name Potter. And… even though Voldemort hadn't told that Lestrange woman which Death Eater he was summoning… he _knew…_ he knew that it was Snape. His eyes widened for a minute… _Snape_… that greasy git of a potion master was a spy! He had to tell someone in the Order…

He was halfway out of the bed, when he stopped. It was just a dream, he told himself. A very realistic dream, but still, just a dream… Snape was no spy, just another ugly teacher at Hogwarts…

He peered around for a moment, trying to calm himself down, the room was dark, but he was pretty sure that he was back at Grimmauld Place.

The door creaked open slowly, a shaft of light falling right on his face. Harry blinked at the sudden light, he could make out someone's head at the door, he couldn't make out who it was. "Harry?"

"What?" he snapped, his voice sharp with an anger that was not his.

_An anger that was not his?_ Harry blinked again, why was he still feeling angry? The dream was over, done with… but it seemed to have lingering effects. The voice came again however, sounded apologetic, "Sorry about that, Harry dear, I didn't mean to startle you." There was a swish of a wand, and a few lamps that were hung from the ceiling glowed suddenly, emitting a dim light. Harry could now make out Molly Weasley standing uncertainly at the doorway.

"Are you all right, Harry?" she asked in a concerned tone. Harry took a deep breath, forcing his abnormal anger to dissipate. When he spoke, he was relieved to find that his voice was normal, "I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley." Events that occurred in Diagon Alley flooded his mind all of a sudden and he gasped, "Where are the others? Are they all right?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled, "They're all perfectly fine dear. We've been worried about you actually. Why don't you freshen up and come downstairs? Dinner's ready."

"Dinner?"

"It's almost eight in the evening, Harry. We let you sleep, you know… In any case, don't take too long dear, I'll tell everyone the good news…" With that, Mrs. Weasley bustled off.

Harry sat up and got off the bed slowly. His scar had stopped hurting, and he found himself wondering whether the dream had just been that after all… a dream. He looked down at himself, someone had removed his robes and had dressed him in pyjamas, the dirty old brown robe he had been wearing earlier that day (or at least, he thought it was the same day), had been cleaned and hung over the back of a chair.

He looked around the room, it was far bigger than the one he and Ron had been sharing, with a double bed, comfortable and sturdy armchairs, and yes, there seemed to be an attached bathroom as well. Harry stretched with a huge yawn, the joints in his back and elbows cracking. He stepped inside the bathroom, looking for a toothbrush, when he caught sight of himself in the mirror.

"Looks like the potion worked," he muttered, taking off his shirt.

Outwardly, he hadn't changed all that much, his features were still the same, though he was pretty sure he had grown a few inches. The main difference was that his ribs could no longer be seen, neither were his arms wasted and thin, as they had been in Azkaban, they now had a wiry strength he was sure was never there before. He bent down to touch his toes, and to his surprise, he was able to do so easily. _Hmm, an athlete's body, eh?_

Realizing that he felt really hungry, for he hadn't had lunch, he brushed his teeth quickly and had just finished putting on his robe, when the door opened. Ron's stuck his head in. "He's decent," he called out behind him, and crossed the room in quick strides, grinning like a madman, Hermione and Ginny right behind him. Harry returned the smile, was clapped on the back by Ron, hugged by Hermione and Ginny, and a confused babble arose, when everyone tried to speak at once. After he assured them that he felt fine, they wanted to know what exactly had happened.

Harry smiled and raised his hands in surrender, "Let's eat first, okay? I haven't eaten in…" he checked his watch, "Nearly twelve hours. Where are Neville and Luna, by the way?"

"They've gone home. Neville's granny and Luna's dad were really worried about them. They'll be back soon," Hermione explained.

"What about _your_ parents?" he asked her. To his surprise, Hermione reddened slightly. "Umm, I've haven't really told them about what happened today. They're dentists, you know… Muggles. They don't understand the wizarding world very well, and I… I really don't want them worrying about me."

Meanwhile, Ginny was looking at him, a small frown on her face. "Harry, have you grown _taller_?"

Harry grinned happily, "Yeah, it's only a couple of inches, I didn't think anyone would notice, really. It's because of the potion," he added, spotting Ron's confused expression.

Hermione pursed her lips disapprovingly. Harry knew that she didn't like the idea of buying illegal potions, so he told her, "It was really thanks to this potion that I survived, you know? I'm really thankful that I bought it."

"Yes, but Mendel's going to be in for it when Dumbledore gets wind of it," said Hermione grimly. Harry didn't really feel like telling them that Mendel was now in a place where angels with halos played soft tunes on harps, or in the more likely event, a rather warm place where he would probably meet a larger version of Fluffy… and way beyond Dumbledore's reach in either case…

No one else joined them for dinner, it was just the four of them and Mrs. Weasley. Harry ate hungrily, more than he had ever eaten before. Lupin and Tonks, Mrs. Weasley informed him, were busy with Order work, but were perfectly all right. He also learned from her that Diagon Alley had been closed down temporarily, until the repair work was finished and the security revamped.

No one bothered Harry for information while he gorged down the food, so dinner somewhat peaceful, until the appearance of an owl with the _Evening Prophet_.

Hermione fished out a Knut from her purse, and handed it to the owl, which flew away. She took a draught of Butterbeer, which proved to be unfortunate, as she spat it out after taking one look and the headlines…

Ron paused in his chewing to comment thoughtfully, "And she tells me I don't have table manners…"

"_Listen to this,"_ Hermione hissed, and proceeded to read from the paper. "Azkaban freed…"

"_WHAT?"_

"Oh, shut up and listen," she continued rather testily, "In a hastily called press conference today afternoon at the Ministry of Magic, the official spokesman broke the startling news that the dreaded Azkaban prison had been broken into by You-Know-Who himself. Several inmates, some of them life interns, have reportedly been freed. These include several well-known Death Eaters, Antonin Dolohov, Amycus and Alecto Carrows and the Malfoy father and son pair…"

Harry couldn't help himself, "Malfoy's _free_?"

"Yes," said Hermione shortly, and continued, "It is reported that many Aurors were killed in the Azkaban take over today, although exact numbers aren't known. A senior source at the Ministry informs us that the supreme Mugwump, Albus Dumbledore himself made an appearance at the battle, and dueled with You-Know-Who, giving the remaining Aurors time to evacuate the island when defeat seemed imminent, thus preventing a full-scale massacre. Albus Dumbledore was unavailable for comment, as was Minister Scrimgeour."

_I thought you knew better than to lie, Bella… the old fool was at Azkaban, we even had a little chat…_

Those were Voldemort's very words in his dream. Could it have been a coincidence? Hardly. That meant that the dream was true, but how was this possible? Perhaps he had some Seer blood in him? Or perhaps there were consequences of the curse that failed that he hadn't known about… The thought that Voldemort and he shared a mental link terrified him. A tense knot began to build up in his stomach, if it was this easy for him to enter Voldemort's mind, it was highly probable that Voldemort could access his as well… The thought that he had managed to repel Dumbledore's Legilimency effort did not make him feel any better… he had been awake and fully alert then, and the old man hadn't been trying very hard anyway. And they didn't share the level of… for a better word, _closeness_ that he and Voldemort did…

He became aware that someone was shaking his shoulder. "Harry, are you all right? You seemed…"

He cut Ginny off with a smile, "I'm okay. I was just thinking how lucky I was that this didn't happen a week ago…" A week ago (had it only been a week?), he was in the stone cell of his, and if Voldemort had attacked Azkaban then, there would have been little he could have done, except perhaps throw a dead rat or two at him…

They were still looking at him worriedly, so he cast about hurriedly for a change of subject. "Mrs. Weasley, could you cut my hair after dinner?" He thought for a moment that the woman was going to embrace him, crying in happiness, but thankfully she didn't. "It got in the way during the fight," he explained to the others.

It almost worked, but Hermione chose that moment to gasp loudly, Harry leaned over a little bit and caught a glimpse of the page she was reading. There was a large photo of… himself, and by the looks of it, it had been taken a few years before, in… he blinked, a dusty room full of brooms and cobwebs? In any case, that meant…

'_HARRY POTTER FOUND?"_ Hermione read out loud. "According to eyewitnesses, Harry Potter was spotted in Diagon Alley after being reportedly missing for eight months." Ron interrupted, pointing a long finger at the paper, he had moved around behind Hermione for a better view, "Look, the little bugger made it to the paper as well." Sure enough, there was a small photograph of a gleeful Fortescue in his ruined shop. Hermione spread the paper out on the table, Harry scanned through the article…

Harry blushed slightly as he read. According to Fortescue, who gave a blow by blow narrative of what had happened, there had been atleast a hundred Death Eaters whose sole aim had been to destroy his shop and everyone in it. Harry had also apparently said and done things he was sure he was incapable of, such as felling ten Death Eaters with a single spell. Fortescue confessed to have blacked out when the Dementors came, but was sure that Harry had something to do with their disappearance in any case.

"Well," he said, unsure of what to say, "I… I didn't do anything of that sort, of course." Ron sniggered a little, but clapped him on his back, "Relax, mate. Atleast you didn't make the front page."

Hermione was frowning. "It isn't funny, Ron. Now Voldemort knows that Harry is alive and well…" Harry opened his mouth to interrupt that Voldemort didn't need the Prophet to tell him that, Bellatrix had done so herself, but he closed his mouth. He didn't want to worry the others about the potential danger he was in. Perhaps he had best talk to Dumbledore about the mental connection. He didn't want to do it of course, but the fact remained that the man was undoubtedly wise and knowledgeable about these matters and would know what to do.

"And," Hermione continued, "You're lucky Fortescue didn't mention that you were Apparating all over the place, despite the wards that were placed. _And_ that curse you used, I've never heard of a curse like that, but it seemed pretty D…"

"Any idea how I did that?" Harry interrupted loudly, "The Apparating thing I mean." He gave a meaningful glance at her, he didn't want Mrs. Weasley to know he had used a Dark curse, although it _had_ been against Lestrange…

Hermione frowned but gave in, "I have no idea," she said irritably. Harry suspected it cost her a lot to say that. "I'll ask Professor Dumbledore…"

Mrs. Weasley interrupted at that point, from her still so far, Harry gathered that she had been aware of the Azkaban break-out, as well as the article in the paper about him. One of the perks of being a member of the Order of the Phoenix, he supposed…

"Albus wanted to see you as soon as you were awake and had eaten, Harry. To discuss today's events. And before you ask, you three are allowed as well…"

Ron gave a whoop of joy, but Harry frowned, this was expected, but it was a troublesome business… Ah well, he had to talk to him about the dream in any case. After today, Harry held no illusions as to who was the bigger threat between Dumbledore and Voldemort. The way the Death Eaters had reacted to his presence, he needed Dumbledore's help for now… a truce was called for.

"When is it?" he asked Mrs. Weasley.

"In fifteen minutes. I informed him as soon as you were awake," she added needlessly, as she waved her wand at his empty plate which went shooting off towards the sink. She held up necklace she was wearing. Harry took a closer look, the round pendant seemed ordinary at first, but then he could make out the faint outline of a phoenix…

"It's based on Hermione's idea, really," she said, shooting a fond glance at her. Hermione turned pink with pleasure. Spotting Harry's confused look, she elaborated, "For the DA, dear. These necklaces turn warm when Dumbledore contacts us, and the time appears on it as well."

Harry nodded, it was a good idea. The robes which witches and wizards tended to wear would make sure the phoenix necklace was hidden from view at all times. And Dumbledore would have obviously charmed it to ensure that no one would be able to use it apart from the one it was intended for… But then, he frowned suddenly as the thought struck him.

"So… the entire Order's going to be there?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded. Harry somehow got the idea that she wasn't very pleased about it.

Harry excused himself and went upstairs to the bathroom. He looked at the mirror, pondering over his options. What was he to do now?

He held no illusions about Dumbledore, he was suspicious of him, no doubt, but on the other hand, he didn't think the old man meant him any harm. He smiled a little at the thought of what Dumbledore would be thinking of him at the moment. He had verified for himself that Harry _had_ lost his memories, but Dumbledore knew now that he, Harry had skills he never had before. Thanks to the display of Hypnotism at his office the other day… 'Ah well,' he thought as he fingered his wand lovingly, 'It was well worth it.'

He wondered what Dumbledore would say when he found that Harry had actually killed someone in Diagon Alley. Surely he would understand that he had no other option? But what of the Dark curse, _Sectumsempra_? Harry had no idea why he had used the curse, the Lestrange woman, her words had made him extremely angry and he had snapped, giving in to his rage… 'Not to mention he thinks I might have gone dark,' he thought moodily, knowing that the day's events weren't going to get him into Dumbledore's good books.

He had killed a Death Eater, _and the others didn't know yet! _A cold hand seemed to clutch at his heart. Would they understand when they found out? It was a terrible thing to do, and he wasn't proud of it, but he would do it again if the situation called for it… his friends were much more important than some Death Eater scum, right? He was a little startled that he was thinking so rationally about it, ought he to feel a little more sorry, a little more ashamed of what he had done? Ought he to worry more about what others thought of the deed, rather than what he thought of it himself?

He decided that he would cooperate with Dumbledore at the moment, he needed his help and protection, with Voldemort after him with a vengeance. He had to talk to him about their mental connection, and he needed to get into the Chamber of Secrets anyway. But how to lessen his suspicions? His brow cleared suddenly as he thought of the solution. _Snape!_ If Harry exposed the spy in their midst… yes, that ought to do it… He had no evidence except for the dream, but he hoped that Dumbledore wouldn't laugh at him. Was it possible to put the dream in a Pensieve? Even if it were possible, would they be able to hear Voldemort's thoughts?

He went downstairs slowly, the doorbell rang, and the house was once again filled with that old hag's screams. He stopped short meeting the eyes of the man who stood at the bottom of the stairs. He recognized him at the same moment that the man seemed to recognize him. He had seen the man in the Pensieve before, in Ron and Hermione's memories of their first year…

"Potter," the man spat out, his face twisted in the familiar look of loathing and contempt. The man who had made his life at Hogwarts hell, or so Ron said anyway…

Harry smiled slightly, this meeting was going to get interesting. He gripped his wand beneath his robes and was relieved to see that Moody and a few other cloaked figures were lounging by the dining room door. Not that Snape would be able to take him out easily if it came to a fight, but it was good to know that there was backup nearby…

"You must be Snake," he said loudly, drawing everyone's attention towards them. "Ron and Hermione told me about you."

Snape's features twisted even more if that were possible, and his skin was no longer the colour of parchment, there was a slight tinge of red on his cheeks. "If that were so, _Potter_, then you would know that my name is Severus _Snape, _and it's _Professor_ Snape to you."

Harry waved his hand casually, "Oh yeah, Snape. I forgot."

A vein throbbed at the side of the man's forehead, and his voice when it came, was a little more than a whisper. "You know as well as I do, that your whole amnesia business is nothing more than a fairy tale! If I had my way…"

"_If _you had your way," Harry interrupted him. "But sadly, it isn't always possible to get what one wants, is it? If only Voldemort learnt that lesson years ago," he shook his head sorrowfully, "We wouldn't be having so much trouble at our hands, would we now?"

"You're lucky Dumbledore believes you," Snape hissed dangerously, "But I know you're no golden boy. Using Dark curses at a young age, it's…" he smirked, "_unforgivable…_"

From the slight gasp that arose from the very interested audience, Harry knew this was news to most of them. "Never used an Unforgivable before, eh Snape?" he asked cheerfully, a smile still on his face. It was a shot in the dark, but it seemed to hit it's mark. From the look of murderous rage on Snape's face, Harry was sure that he was going to curse him. Moody seemed to be about to step in, but a cheerful voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

"Everyone's here I see. Excellent!" Dumbledore beamed. Noticing him at the top of the stairs, he continued, "Ah, Harry! I trust today's events have not left any scars, physical or otherwise?"

"I'm fine, Professor Dumbledore."

"I'm glad to hear it," Dumbledore smiled. "Now if you will, it is approaching the hour, we shall begin the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix."

Completely ignoring the expression on his Potion master's face, he swept regally into the dining room. Snape muttered something inaudible under his breath and followed him. The others followed, still looking uncertainly between Harry and Snape's retreating back.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

**A/N: I have the sneaky feeling I might have made a couple of mistakes here… Lemme know if you find anything that seems wrong, would you?**


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